Shimao Group submits $4-B offer to develop Ft Boni portion

Chinese real estate developer Shimao Property Holdings has moved closer to putting in $4 billion into the country after the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) received proposal for the development of a portion of Fort Bonifacio.

In an interview over the weekend, BCDA vice president Aileen Zosa said Shimao has already submitted the detailed proposal.

She said the evaluation of the proposal will be completed within a week. “We will give to them (Shimao) our comments first week of January.”

After taking into account the recommendations of BCDA, Shimao can submit the final project plan.

BCDA and Shimao have earlier signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the joint development of a sizeable portion of land in the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The share of BCDA in the investment is the piece of land in Fort Bonifacio.

“This is one of the biggest partnerships of government for property development in 2007,” Narciso Abaya, president and CEO of BCDA said, following the MOU signing  between the Shimao Group and BCDA in March.

“This will further boost the asset disposition program of BCDA, and enhance its revenue generating capability, translating to more funds for the AFP modernization program and other beneficiaries,” Abaya added.

The development will make the Bonifacio Global City a key international business district.

The Shimao Group is the owner of the Le Meridian Hotel, the Royal Meridien Hotel ‑ the tallest structure in Shanghai, China and the Grand Hyatt Hotel also in Shanghai. All together, they have more than 10 luxury hotels in China.

It has an inventory of more than 20 million square meters of luxury offices and residential condominiums and continues to build an average of four million square meters per year

The principal businesses of the Shimao Group are property development, property investment and hotel operation. It is a listed company in the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The Bonifacio Global City boasts of world-class infrastructure that includes underground water supply and distribution, drainages and power utilities. It also has a fiber optic cabling network to support a wide range of telephone, video and data applications.