Tuesday, July 15, 2008 City to bid out SRP lot parcels next month
CEBU City Hall will start bidding procedures for parcels of land at the South Road Properties (SRP) anytime next month, in time for the mayor’s State of the City Address.
The target is to sell at least 10 hectares to raise enough money for loan payments in the next three to four years, City Administrator Francisco Fernan-dez said.
He told reporters yesterday that they will be ready to publish the bidding details by early August, around the same time Mayor Tomas Osmeña will deliver a report on the state of the city.
Close
“We want to close at least one deal that will free us from the headache of loan payments in the next three to four years… We hope to sell at least 10 hectares,” Fernandez said.
At a starting price of P15,000 per square meter, the 10 hectares could yield P1.5 billion or more for the City Government, depending on the outcome of the bid.
For this year alone, the City has appropriated P666.6 million for the principal and interest payments for the SRP loan. Some P334.9 million was paid last February and another P331.8 million will be paid next month.
Developers
The City is still finalizing negotiations with four of the biggest commercial and mix-use developers in the country. But Fernandez said discussions are being done just to guide the City on what the market wants.
He explained that although there were negotiations on joint venture proposals and prices of the lots, nothing is final until the properties are bid out.
“We are negotiating with buyers just to find out what the market needs and what they’re willing to buy. We have been very clear with the interested buyers that these are all just talks and will be final only through a bidding because we have to follow the law,” said Fernandez.
After the invitation to bid is published, the pre-bidding will follow after seven days. It will take another 12 days to prepare the bid documents, he added. (LCR)
