Wednesday, June 3, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
CEBU CITY -- A group of Korean investors visited the South Road Properties (SRP) Tuesday and offered to buy the entire four-hectare Kawit Point for a hotel and condominium project.
But City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he can only allow the Korean investors to enter into a joint venture activity at Kawit Point with the City Government if it meets the technical and financial requirements under the City’s Joint Venture Ordinance.
He said the city will control the sale of other lots for hotels and condominiums to make sure that investors don’t compete with each other.
Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) Managing Director Joel Mari Yu said that so far, the prospective investors are all interested in constructing hotels and condominium buildings there.
“I’m going to remind the council on that. We have to be careful in choosing what kind of projects we will accept, who gives competition to Filinvest because it will affect our joint venture. Remember that we are going to get around P10,000 per square meter or 10 percent of their sales, whichever is higher. If Filinvest can drive up the prices of their condos, our 10 percent will be more,” Osmeña told Sun.Star Cebu Tuesday.
The mayor met with the Korean investors who expressed interest to develop the entire Kawit Point into a hotel and condominium complex, which is similar to the plans of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) and the American investors who came here last Saturday.
Osmeña said, though, that based on his initial assessment, the Korean investors might not qualify to enter into a joint venture with the city.
“They want to buy Kawit Island but I told them I don’t like to sell Kawit. I said they can have a joint venture with us to develop it but the way I look at it, they’re not qualified because they don’t have the track record,” the mayor continued.
To make sure that the SRP will not have an excess of hotels and condominium units and so that the investors’ businesses don’t compete with each other, Osmeña said the city will regulate the sale of other lots and will be more selective in choosing the kind of projects at the SRP.
He also welcomes offers to put up malls and a coliseum, instead of hotels and condominium.
“After maybe another sale, there will be a shutdown because we don’t want to sell land anymore. We just want the Filinvest project to kick off, then we’ll be more careful in choosing the projects,” the mayor added. (LCR/Sun.Star Cebu)
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