Banilad lot project: Bid of international consortium show investors' faith - Garcia

Governor Gwen Garcia yesterday said the participation of a international consortium in the bid for a hotel-commercial complex project in the provincial lot in barangay Banilad, Cebu City indicated faith of foreign investors in the government and signified that more investments are coming to Cebu.

"This is the tipping point. It's a good sign of foreign investors having faith and credibility for Cebu to soar high," said Garcia on the P1.87-billion tender of Philippine-Beijing Motors Corporation to put up the development project at the 2.8-hectare Capitol lot, under the built-transfer-operate scheme.



The Cebu International School and Cebu Tennis Club previously occupied the provincial property in Banilad.

Philippine-Beijing Motors Corporation, a consortium of Filipino-Chinese-Malaysian-Singaporean firms, entered the bidding last Wednesday and was impressed over the bidding process, conducted by the Economic Enterprise Council, saying the Capitol did "a very transparent" job.

The ECC, chaired by the governor, used projectors to show the tenders of each of the three bid participants, which had their own representatives to scrutinize the bids of the competitors. An external auditor was also deployed during the entire process.

Philippine-Beijing quoted P1.87-billion for the project, the highest in terms of net present value than two local bidders: SM Hypermart's P291-million and Cebu Oversea Corporation's P266.9-million.

The Philippine-Beijing's bid will still undergo post-qualification to determine whether it passed all the requirements and conditions as specified in the bid documents.

Under the project proposal, Philippine-Beijing offered to build a 21-storey hotel and commercial complex, which will house a car mall, hypermart, exhibit building, and museum, among others.

The building's facade will be designed to show the old Cebu, with covered walks and pathways that replicate the Old Colon Street.

Under the BTO scheme of the project, the winning bidder shall build the structure, transfer its ownership to the Capitol, then operate the establishment over a 25-year-period to recoup investments while giving rents and sales percentages to the Capitol.

The winning firm shall pay a lot rent of P20,000 per square meter or equivalent to P12.19 million each year within a five-year period, the rate of which shall increase by 5 percent per year starting on the sixth year.

It will also pay monthly to the Capitol a share of half of one percent of gross sales or P200,000, whichever is higher, starting on the year after the signing of contract, which is expected in May this year.

The operating firm will have the structure and the lot fully insured with the Government Service Insurance System then, after 25 years, the operation will be turned over to the provincial government. - Cristina C. Birondo