[ Malaya.com.ph ] February 9, 2009
By IRMA ISIP
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is preparing the masterplan for the next major property development in Fort Bonifacio.
A consultant will be hired to make the masterplan for the 119 hectares of prime property in the former military installation.
Aileen Zosa, BCDA vice president for business development, said the agency has received 11 letters of intent for the master plan for which it is prepared to pay P10 million.
To be developed are nine pieces of adjoining properties – six of which are owned by BCDA in Bonifacio South — JUSMAG, SSU, ASCOM, Marines, BNS, and NOVAI — and portions of the Philippine Army (POL depot and dental dispensary), the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) and the consular areas, also in Fort Bonifacio.
Zosa said inquiries came from the Hong Kong-based Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK) International Ltd. HOK also did the master planning for Bonifacio Global City and EDAW in Hong Kong.
The deadline for the submission lapsed last Feb. 6.
Zosa said the BCDA would dispose of only the six properties it owns, covering 93 hectares, in a phased development that kicks off with the 35.5-hectare JUSMAG scheduled this year. At raw, the properties are fetching P20,000 per square meter.
However, BCDA has included the non-BCDA properties in the coverage of the master plan to make the development consistent with the rest of development in Fort Bonifacio.
"These properties are in the middle of the BCDA properties. The master plan would serve as a guide for the landowners in developing these properties," Zosa said.
For example, she said, the Philippine Army property will be for the relocation and replication site for the housing of the military officers to be displaced from the JUSMAG property.
The consular area is subject of an ownership claim by the US government. The property, which the US government intended to use for consular housing, was never turned over and is now occupied by squatters.
"Bonifacio South should complement Global City. We want to maintain the same standards as the Global City. Whatever facilities we’re lacking in Global City, we want to make sure these are present in Bonifacio South," Zosa said.
Zosa said although these properties are still intended for mixed-use development, the master plan will ensure the development would include essential but oftentimes neglected amenities like civic institutions — cultural, convention and arts centers, institutional areas and government offices.
The master plan would also determine the best mode of disposition – straight sale or joint venture — and the best land use.
"We will only qualify bidders with experience in master planning, business, financial and environment planning," Zosa said.
Zosa said other interested consultants for the master planning are Pros, Palafox, UP Planades, Colliers and ISSSI (International Strictures Systems Specialists Inc.) and Philips Consulting.
The BCDA has set the JUSMAG property as the first to be disposed under the phased asset disposition of Bonifacio South.
The BCDA also would like to avoid some of the pitfalls of the first asset disposition in Fort Bonifacio.
The privatization of the 214-hectare Fort Bonifacio in the late 1990s was unprecedented in terms of not only its size but also because of its P33 billion price.
Only 150 hectares was turned over to the winning bidder because the remaining area was beset with issues with informal settlers.
Zosa said 64 hectares were not delivered by the BCDA to the joint venture, FBDC. The 25 hectares went to Mckinely Hills. The rest are still occupied and became part of socialized housing area declared by President Arroyo under Executive Order 70.
Zosa said although the winning bidder, the Metro Pacific-led consortium, Bonifacio Land Corp (BLC) was able to pay the government the P19 billion down payment, it was not able to complete the development and sell some of the properties due to the 1997n property crisis. The BLC was bought out by an Ayala-led group in 2003.
Total payment to the government amounted to over P29 billion.
This does not include the share of the BCDA in the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., the joint venture company formed with the private sector for the development of Global City. The BCDA has a 45 percent stake in the company.
Zosa estimates BCDA’s share at P20 billion to P30 billion.
Zosa said Global City is still in the process of development. Based on targets set by FBDC, at full buildup, Global City should have 12 million square meters in gross floor area (GFA) by 2012. The area now has about 3 million sq.m. in GFA.
Some of the major developments in progress are the Shangrila Hotel which recently broke ground; the PSE building, Mind Museum, West Super Block, and the retail component of the City Center, similar to Ayala Center.
Zosa said the 35-hectare North Bonifacio is the next development in Global City where the properties are fetching a minimum P33,000 per sq.m..
Zosa said the BCDA would initially focus on the disposition of JUSMAG, which is ideal for high-end mixed-use development, the back of Forbes Park and near Essensa.
It has so far generated the interest of property giants like Ayala Land Inc., Megaworld Corp., SM Group, Shimao Group of China, and Robinsons Land Corp.
Zosa said a Supreme Court ruling has allowed BCDA to reclaim ownership of the JUSMAG property, which was the subject of a case between the government and some retired military officials claiming ownership of the property.
The other properties up for disposition in Bonifacio South are the 33.6 hectares occupied by the ASCOM, Bonifacio Naval Station and Marine Headquarters as well as the 25.5-hectare area being claimed by the Navy Officers Village Association Inc. The latter is subject of a case pending in the court.
The BCDA needs to raise funds for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which gets 35 percent of the BCDA’s revenues to fund its modernization.
As of September 2008, BCDA posted revenues of P41 billion, of which the AFP got about 42 percent; P7.59 billion for modernization and P9.46 billion for replication.
The BCDA has a recurring net income of about P500 million to P600 million annually.
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