by Julito G. Rada
[ manilastandardtoday.com ] August 16, 2011
CLARK Development Corp. is putting the 215-hectare Mimosa Leisure Estate in Clark Freeport Zone in the auction block again to generate new investments.
The public relations office of CDC confirmed to Manila Standard over the phone Monday that the leisure estate was up for bidding, but did not give details, including the minimum bid price and the deadline for submission of offers.
Clark offered prospective bidders to operate, manage and further develop the existing hotel and villas in the free port zone into a prime tourist and recreational destination in Central Luzon. CDC said it would lease the estate over a period of 50 years and renewable for another 25 years.
CDC said bidders must have a track record in the operations, management or ownership of at least a five-star accommodation facility with at least 250 rooms, for a minimum period of one year.
CDC said it would provide the terms of reference to prospective bidders upon payment of a non-refundable fee of P1 million.
CDC attempted a few times to privatize the leisure estate in the past but did not succeed.
On its latest attempt in 2008—its third—the government nullified the winning bid of NTM Jin Hung of Korea for its alleged failure to pay in full the required amount stipulated in the bid contract. The CDC that year set the minimum bid price of P1.4 billion.
In 1998, CDC took control of the management and operations of Mimosa, after its former owner, Jose Antonio Gonzales of the Mondragon Leisure and Resorts Corp., failed to settle its obligations with the government. Gonzales was a former Tourism secretary of the late President Corazon Aquino, the mother of President Benigno Aquino III.
The debt represented government claims in arrears of the estate, which has been managed by CDC’s Special Project on Resort Operations since the state-owned firm took over the estate in 1999.
The estate hosts 36-hole championship golf course, Holiday Inn Hotel and Villas, Montevista Hotel and Restaurants, several international and specialty restaurants and a casino operated by Casino Filipino.
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