Posted on September 10, 2015 10:13:00
PM [ Businessworld Online]
A UNIT of property giant Ayala Land,
Inc. (ALI) is set to complete within the year the purchase of a portion of a
sprawling property in the Rizal province owned by IRC Properties, Inc.
“Yes, the deal is there and hopefully
by end of the year we can conclude it,” IRC Properties Chairman Esteban G. Peña
Sy told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s stockholders meeting in
Pasay City yesterday.
IRC and Amaia Land Corp. have been in
talks over the past three years for the sale of an 18.8-hectare lot in
Binangonan for P100 million, and Mr. Peña Sy is optimistic both parties can
reach an agreement with the resolution of technical issues.
“How come we have not officially
concluded a deal? It’s because of some technicalities like the drainage system.
That’s the only pending issue and we have the commitment from the municipal
government,” Mr. Peña Sy said.
Amaia Land will purchase the land at
P500 per square meter, the price of the lot three years ago, under a memorandum
of agreement signed with IRC, Mr. Peña Sy said.
The price of the land has doubled
since then but IRC is sticking to the original price since the presence of a
prestigious developer like Ayala Land will add to the value of the property, he
said.
“We hope we can bring up the value of
the property,” Mr. Peña Sy said.
There are currently three subdivisions
on 2,000 hectares of IRC property in Rizal, the latest of which is a product of
a recent joint venture with Japan’s Tamurakenzai group.
IRC was originally involved in oil
exploration and has drilled two wells in Southern Mindoro and the Sulu Sea, but
was forced to cut down on these activities when the global recession hit in the
late 1970s.
It acquired the Binangonan property in
1978, marking its foray into real estate development, and sold an island in
Coron, Palawan in 2010 to finance its projects in Binangonan.
IRC has a wholly owned subsidiary --
Interport Development Corp., which was established primarily to acquire and
sell real estate of all kinds or hold such properties for investment purposes.
IRC and its subsidiary have no commercial activities, except for clearing and
retitling of its properties in Binangonan.
IRC shares added a centavo or 0.7% to
close at P1.43 apiece yesterday. -- Krista Angela M. Montealegre
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