Shimao eyes other sites for its $4-B investment

Real estate developer Shimao Property Holdings is now considering other locations for its $4-billion investment as the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) announced the bidding of the lot the Chinese firm is eyeing.

“They have so many offers and they are now considering it,” Ambassador Francis Chua, special envoy on Chinese trade and investments told The Star in an interview. “The Fort was just their first choice but there are other places they can enter,” he added.

At the same time, Chua denied reports that Shimao has decided to shift its investment to Malaysia.

“They will come in here the only question is where and when,” Chua stressed.

Last month, the BCDA — the agency responsible for the privatization of The Fort rejected the proposal of Shimao for the development of the Fort Bonifacio property.

Instead, BCDA vice president Aileen Zosa said they will bid out the land.

“We encourage Shimao to join the bidding,” Zosa said.

Zosa explained that they rejected the unsolicited proposal of Shimao because the agency does not have the solid legal basis to undertake Swiss challenge on Shimao’s unsolicited proposal.

The property called North Bonifacio lots covers 8.38 hectares including roads and open/green spaces.

“With the prevailing momentum of development in the area, we are expecting the North Bonifacio property to fetch at least P34,000 per square meter on a rawland basis and more than P100,000 per square meter on a developed basis,” Zosa noted.

Last year, BCDA and Shimao have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint development of a sizeable portion of land in the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The share of BCDA in the investment is the piece of land in Fort Bonifacio.

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 ten luxury hotels in China.

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.