Robinsons pays P573M for M-Gas property
An article published in The
Business World, March 7, 2006
By: Felipe F. Salvosa II and Jennee Grace U. Rubrico
Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the country's
third largest property developer, paid P573 million to the government
yesterday for a four-hectare property in Paco, Manila , the year's first
big-ticket privatization deal.
At least P300 million will go directly to the National Government while P173
million will be deposited to the Treasury, said Finance Undersecretary
Gabriel R. Singson, Jr., head of the interagency Privatization Council. Part
of the proceeds will also go to Manila Gas Corp. (M-Gas), subsidiary of
state-run National Development Co. and the lot's former occupant, as well as
for taxes.
The government has been trying to sell the real estate since 1995. "We're
very happy with the results," Mr. Singson said.
The Gokongwei-led developer plans to devote a hectare of the Manila Gas lot
to a shopping mall and the rest, three hectares, for townhouses. It operates
the Robinsons chain of malls and is the largest domestic hotel owner and
operator.
In a statement, Robinsons Land said it plans to tap the Filipino-Chinese
market for its latest residential project that will stand on the Manila Gas
property.
RLC High Rise Buildings Division General Manager Danilo E. Ignacio said the
property will be the location for Otis 888 Residences, an upscale townhouse
project that will compete with Community Innovations Inc.'s nearby Celadon
project.
"We plan to develop a big portion of the premium property into upscale
townhouses composed of 3 to 4 bedrooms with price ranging from P6.5 million
and up. Our main market will be the Fil-Chinese market residing in the
Chinatown Area. Our newest upscale development and design fully reflects the
discerning taste of our target clientele," Mr. Ignacio said.
He said that RLC has just completed the overall master plan for the project
and that it will start selling the townhouses by next month. He added that
with Otis 888 Residences located two kilometers, or less than 10 minutes,
away from the Binondo area, the residential project "offers a refreshing
alternative for upscale living to Fil-Chinese."
"As Chinatown is getting more congested, Otis 888 Residences will help
address the growing needs of Fil-Chinese now looking for additional living
space or have plans of investing in nearby residential properties for their
growing families," he said.
Otis 888 Residences is located within close proximity to schools, including
St. Peters , St. Jude, Chiang Kai Shek, Uno, Malayan High School of Science,
St. Stephen, University of Santo Tomas , and San Beda. With Robinsons
planning to put up a mall on the development site, Mr. Ignacio said,
residents of Otis 888 Residences will be given easy access to basic needs.
He added, however, that plans for the mall are still being finalized as "the
company is carefully reviewing the ideal retail mix for the commercial
portion of the mixed-used development."
RLC is the real-estate arm of Gokongwei-controlled JG Summit Holdings, Inc.,
one of the country's largest conglomerates with diverse interest in branded
consumers foods, agro-industrial and commodity food products, textile,
telecommunications, petrochemicals, air transportation and financial
services.
The firm said that its acquisition of the Manila Gas property "aims to add
valuable land inventory."
Robinsons Land got the notice of award in December, edging out Ayala
Community Innovations in the bidding last October as the latter offered to
buy the Manila Gas property for only P86 million.
Robinsons Land's original offer was only P562.6 million. But the
Privatization Council required it to improve the bid by P10.8 million
because under Commission on Audit rules, the government cannot dispose of an
asset at less than 90% of the floor price. The Manila Gas property had an
indicative price of P637 million.
The October bidding was only able to dispose Manila Gas' 39,995-square-meter
south property. There were no bidders for the 12,271-square-meter north
property, also in Paco, and a smaller one in Cebu . The north property was
valued at P136.26 million while the Cebu property is worth P9.52 million.
Mr. Singson told reporters the government was open to joint ventures for the
other lots. Manila Gas occupied the Paco properties until 2002 when it
stopped its liquefied petroleum gas operations.
Robinsons Land also earlier bought the 9.3-hectare Jardine Davies property
which is located between Bicutan and Nichols interchange. The company said
it will turn the property into a mixed-used development that will be
composed of several residential thematic enclaves.