Posted on November 09, 2014 10:48:00
PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Daphne J. Magturo, Reporter
AYALA LAND, Inc. remains interested in
Bonifacio South Pointe, its chief executive said on Friday, reviving an earlier
bid for that prime property in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City that pit it against
rival developers Robinsons Land Corp. and the SM group as far back as 2010.
The 33.13-hectare property is the
subject of a legal battle between state-owned Bases Conversion and Development
Authority (BCDA) -- who wants to sell it through a competitive bidding -- and
the SM group, whose unsolicited proposal was approved by the former BCDA board.
“We will consider any significant
parcel of land in the Bonifacio area,” Bernard Vincent O. Dy, Ayala Land
president and chief executive officer, said in a chance interview on Friday.
Mr. Dy said his group would join a
competitive bidding for the project, noting that its interest was not dampened
by a failed earlier attempt to buy the property after the group of tycoon Henry
submitted a better offer.
NOT JUST SM
Documents obtained by BusinessWorld
showed that Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land was the first to submit an unsolicited
proposal in October 2009, preceding SM Land, Inc.’s proposal in December the
same year.
Ayala Land then submitted its own
proposal “around February 2010,” BCDA President Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said
in a phone interview on Nov. 5.
“There were so many changes in their
[SM] proposal, which proved that there should be a competitive bidding,” Mr.
Casanova said, noting that SM eventually emerged with the highest offer at
P38,500 per square meter (sq.m.).
“But there was no contract yet, they
just accepted SM’s proposal to accept its unsolicited proposal,” he said,
noting that none of the three property giants had matched the BCDA’s
“conservative appraisal” of P78,000 per sq.m for the property.
Mr. Casanova added that properties
“near the McKinley area” are now estimated to be at P120,000 per sq.m.
A filing with the BCDA in October
2009, signed by Robinsons Land President and Chief Operating Officer Frederick
D. Go, showed that the company’s first offer was P14,000 per sq.m. Robinsons
Land then increased its offer to P32,000 per sq.m. in April 2010.
Mr. Go refused to comment on whether
they are still interested in the project, which was intended to be a
public-private joint venture with BCDA, whose equity contribution would be the
land. Robinsons Land, on the other hand, would shoulder the development cost
and contribute its services and expertise as the developer and project
administrator.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court records
showed that SM’s first offer in December 2009 was P15,985 per sq.m. “Barely
three months after,” it was upgraded to P31,139 per sq.m., and in May 2010, to
P32,501 per sq.m.
PUBLIC BIDDING PUSHED
“I think everyone wants a public
bidding. We are not favoring anyone, we want to allow a level playing field so
the government can get the best value,” Mr. Casanova said, noting that SM is
welcome to join the process.
But BCDA’s clamor for a competitive
bidding is stalled in court. It has yet to get a decision from the Supreme
Court over its motion for reconsideration filed on Oct. 1, seeking to overturn
the high court’s earlier ruling that favored a Swiss challenge instead.
In early September, the high court
compelled the BCDA to go forward with the process of entertaining SM Land’s
unsolicited bid for the Bonifacio South Pointe, blocking the agency’s plans to
conduct a public bidding for the lot.
“You can safely assume that this is now
the most expensive piece of real estate in the Philippines so all the biggest
players want a piece of it,” he added.
According to the BCDA Web site, the
property is located at the south of Bonifacio Global City and consists of lands
presently occupied in part by the Army Service Command and Security Services
Unit of the Philippine Army, as well as the Bonifacio Naval Station and
Philippine Marine Corps of the Philippine Navy.
Under the Bonifacio South master plan,
the area would be developed into a medium- to high-density residential and
mixed-use complex, with a “strong institutional component” and a maximum
allowable gross floor area of 1.355 million sq.m.
The property is located along Lawton
Avenue and is separated from the JUSMAG property by the NAMRIA area and a
six-hectare strip of land retained by the Philippine Army.
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