By Richmond S. Mercurio (The
Philippine Star) | Updated May 6, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Villar Group
has taken itself out of the chase for the Payanig sa Pasig estate but is still
in contention for the Cebu South Road Properties race.
Real estate tycoon and former Sen.
Manuel B. Villar Jr. told The STAR that his group would not bid for the
18.5-hectare Payanig sa Pasig property set to be auctioned by the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in June this year.
“No to Pasig,” Villar said in a text
message when asked if his listed real estate firm Vista Land & Lifescapes
Inc. would participate in the auction of the property.
Big property names Ayala Land Inc.
(ALI), SM Prime Holdings Inc. and Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) as well as
diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. have all expressed interest in
bidding for the Payanig sa Pasig property.
The government’s planned auction of
the Pasig estate, however, is being opposed and questioned by BLEMP Commercial
Philippines Inc., which is claiming ownership of the property.
As for Cebu’s reclaimed South Road
Properties, Villar said his group has yet to decide whether it would bid or not
for upcoming parcels of land to be offered by the local government.
“Don’t know yet about Cebu,” Villar
said.
ALI, SM Prime, and RLC have also
indicated their interest to bid for new lots to be sold by the Cebu City
government in the 240-hectare property.
A 26-hectare lot in South Road
Properties is currently being prepared next for bidding following the 30
hectares won by SM Prime and another 40 hectares bagged by Filinvest Land Inc.
of the Gotianun family a few years ago.
Prime Asset Venture Inc. of the Villar
Group has recently partnered with Malaysia’s MTD Group, Korean Hanshin
Construction Corp. and Korea Rural Corp. to form Alloy-PAVI Hanshin LLED
Consortium.
The group will bid for the P123-billion
Laguna Lakeshore expressway dike project, the largest Public-Private
Partnership (PPP) project rolled out so far by the Aquino administration.
Villar’s property portfolio consists
of housing, malls, hotels, convenience stores, and home furnishing and construction
supply outlets.
Property unit Vista Land is considered
as the country’s largest homebuilder with residential housing developments in
34 provinces and 74 cities and municipalities around the country.
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