Posted on September 01, 2014 11:13:00
PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Daphne J. Magturo
SM Land, Inc. plans to integrate its
reclamation projects in the cities of Pasay and Parañaque to develop a
600-hectare central business district (CBD) worth more than a hundred billion
pesos, senior officials of the company’s mother unit told reporters yesterday.
SM Land has contracted international
engineering firm Aecom Technology Corp. to draft the master plan for the
development at the Manila Bay area, and expects to have a plan within the next
three to six months.
The Parañaque and Pasay project areas
measure 300 hectares each, with reclamation work alone expected to take three
to five years to complete, SM Prime Executive Vice-President Jeffrey C. Lim
said after the listing ceremony in Makati City of the company’s P20-billion
retail bonds.
SM Prime has become the holding
company of SM group’s real estate businesses as a result of consolidation last
year.
“The cities have contracted us... and
they will have to secure approval and (follow) the process including
endorsement from the PRA (Philippine Reclamation Authority) all the way to NEDA
(National Economic and Development Authority). We’re just waiting,” Mr. Lim
said.
SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said in
the same venue that the group is “trying to build a future city” in the area.
“Preferably, we would like the project
to be integrated so the outcome will be better. We’re working with them (Aecom)
very closely -- we give them the ideas we want -- we now have to justify the
whole design, including putting into consideration all the environment issue
and climate change issues. All issues should be addressed,” Mr. Sy said.
SM Land previously said it intended to
develop the reclaimed land into “a world-class, mixed-use district for
business, commercial, and
entertainment
.”
Asked for comment, Antonio Sabarre, Jones
Lang LaSalle associate director for Markets, said in a phone interview: “We
encourage a new area of development. It’s good for the industry and for the
Philippines so we can try and make more CBDs to encourage more investors to
come to Manila.”
“It takes a while for the reclamation
to be finished, so we hope that when it’s done, there will be more office
spaces and roads to build. It widens Metro Manila, in a way,” he said.
On Aug. 13, the Public-Private
Partnership Selection Committee of Parañaque City endorsed to Mayor Edwin L.
Olivarez SM Land’s unsolicited proposal for its reclamation project.
BONDS UPSIZED
In a statement released also
yesterday, SM Prime said it has upsized its maiden bond offering to P20 billion
from the initial size of P15 billion, citing “strong demand” from investors.
The issue consists of 5.1000% Series A
bonds due 2020, 5.2006% Series B bonds due 2021 and 5.7417% Series C Bonds due
2024.
“The bonds were purchased by a wide
spectrum of investors ranging from individuals in the retail market to banks,
investment funds, pension funds, insurance companies and other corporate,” the
statement read.
The offer period ran from Aug. 13 to
Aug. 22, while the issue date was yesterday.
SM Prime has earmarked P60.9 billion
in capital expenditure for projects this year, of which P30 billion will go to
malls, P24.5 billion for residential, P3.2 billion for commercial, and P3.2
billion for hotels and convention centers.
On Monday, shares of the company
gained 30 centavos or 1.85% to close at P16.48 apiece from Friday’s P16.18
finish.
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