Posted on May 13, 2012 10:28:04 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
STATE-RUN Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS) plans to start accepting bids next month for four Metro Manila
properties which includes a prime two-hectare lot in the Ortigas business
district, an official said.
“The appraisals are likely to be completed
this month, and we will be publishing [the bidding terms] in June, and opening
bids in July or August,” Robert G. Vergara, GSIS president and general manager,
told BusinessWorld in a chance interview.
According to earlier reports, the
agency is looking to auction off four acquired assets: the former GSIS office
in Makati City, the site of the former Manila Jai-alai building in Ermita, the
18-storey PHILCOMCEN (Philippine Communications Center) building in Pasig City,
and an 18,498-square-meter lot owned by the Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority (MMDA) in Ortigas Center.
“Right now, because we are governed by
the rules on the disposal of assets, we are now at a stage where we have
negotiated with a panel of appraisers to conduct three independent appraisals
of the properties. These are ongoing right now, and once we come up with the
price range, then we will publish and open it to interested real estate
investors,” Mr. Vergara said.
A number of developers have already
signified interest in the properties but none have presented concrete plans, he
said.
Big-name developers Filinvest Land,
Inc., Robinsons Land Corp., SM Development Corp., and Ayala Land, Inc. had said
they were keen on bidding for the so-called MMDA lot, the biggest property
currently held by GSIS, according to an earlier BusinessWorld report.
Property consultants have previously
tagged the property, which sits on the corner of Meralco and Doña Julia Vargas
Avenues in Pasig City, as ideal given its proximity to several residential and
commercial developments.
“I am confident we will bid them out
this year. It’s a bull market for property right now, and the market is awash
with liquidity. I hope the prices that will be coming in will be acceptable to
GSIS,” Mr. Vergara said.
If the four properties are
successfully bid out, GSIS may look into auctioning off others in its
portfolio.
“We have plenty of properties. Based
on the prices we will receive for the four [properties], we might look at other
assets that we may want to dispose of,” Mr. Vergara added. -- FJGDLF
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