Government asks Japanese consortium to pay for development of RP property in Tokyo

The government has asked the Nagayama-Taisei consortium to pay for the development of the Philippine-owned property in Nampeidai district in Tokyo not later than Aug. 18.

Finance Undersecretary Gaudencio Mendoza Jr. said based on the service development agreement signed with the group on Aug. 11, it still has 10 days to deliver the ¥480 million service development fees.

According to Mendoza, the bids and awards committee (BAC) of the Department of Finance (DOF)was able to ask the consortium to sign a service development agreement last July 26 and pay the corresponding fee within 10 days from the signing of the contract.

But Mendoza said should the group fails to come up with the payment on the said deadline, the DOF would be forced to terminate the contract.

"If they fail to sign it on Friday and pay the contract we will be conducting another bidding," he warned.

It would be recalled that the DOF selected the Nagayama-Taisei consortium over the Japanese-owned Urban Development Corp.

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves issued a Notice of Award to the consortium last December to develop the four-story building that has a floor area of 2,489 sq. m. in Nampeidai.

Nampeidai was left unoccupied after the embassy moved to Tokyo’s Roponggi district during the time of former President Joseph Estrada.

The DOF official said there was a delay in the signing of the service development agreement between the government and the winning bidder due to an internal squabble within the consortium as to who would be the authorized signatory in the contract.

Based on the group’s proposal, it plans to construct a building on the property worth ¥1.7 billion and pay the government an additional ¥480 million.

The consortium, in turn, would reserve 22 percent of the building for the exclusive use of the government, specifically to house the Philippine consulate. The duration of the development and lease agreement is 50 years.

The Nampeidai property was one of the three pieces of Philippine property in Japan that has been offered to investors under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) scheme.

Meanwhile, the Philippine government has already signed the 50-year service development agreements with Berg Co. Ltd for the Naniwa-Cho and Obanoyama properties in Kobe, Japan.

The unoccupied lots were originally auctioned off in November 2003 but the Arroyo administration stopped it following stiff opposition from those who believed the properties lots should not be sold.

Based on the financial proposal for the 764.7-square-meter Naniwa-Cho property, it carried a net present value of ¥759.3 million. For the 3,014.87-square-meter Obanoyama property, the net present value was ¥449.6 million.

Berg would spend Y827.9 million and ¥490.2 million in development fees for the Naniwa-Cho and Obanoyama properties, respectively.