Councilor proposes selling 3 hectares in SRP
What will colleagues of Cebu City Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella do with his proposal to authorize the sale of a parcel of land in the South Road Properties (SRP)?
For now, the proposal remains with the council’s committee on laws for review. Abella filed last week the draft amendments to City Ordinance 2332, which is supposed to protect the SRP and its stakeholders—including you, taxpayers of Cebu City—from “unlawful or unauthorized transactions.”
This is the first proposed sale of a part of the SRP since Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s fresh term began on June 30 last year. Majority of the councilors who will vet Abella’s proposal belong to Team Rama and are allied with Michael Rama, who was mayor when the City last sold part of the SRP in 2015.
Abella said his proposed sale of three hectares will “push up existing public-private partnerships.”
A Cebu City councilor wants to authorize the sale of a three-hectare (ha) parcel of land in the South Road Properties (SRP) which is estimated to generate around P3.3 billion.
Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella last week filed a draft legislation to supplement City Ordinance 2332, which protects the SRP and its stakeholders from unlawful and unauthorized transactions and dealings.
“The sale will indeed concretize real estate values of land in the SRP as an erstwhile starting point for investments. At the same time, it pushes up existing public-private partnerships,” he said.
The parcel subject for sale are exclusive to two lot areas at Pond F composed of Lot 1-F-8-A with an area of 25,769 square meters (sq. m) and Lot 1-H-1 with an area or 3,349 sq.m.
Abella said the City Government can generate income by selling the area at P110,000 per sq. m.
The area that will be disposed of is less than one percent of the entire SRP property which is 300 has.
“The sale shall be conducted with strict adherance to the Commission on Audit (COA) rules and regulations for public auctions in order to obtain the highest obtainable price, subject to the minimum price limit set by the City,” he said.
Based on the proposed ordinance, the initial bid and the final purchase price of the property, whether in whole or half, shall be at least P110,000 per sq. m., or the whole amount of P3.3 billion for the entire property.
Buyers may pay in full or in two installments, which shall be at least 50 percent upon signing of the sale documents pursuant to the public auction, and the remaining half upon approval of the COA.
The property shall be awarded by the City Government to the winning bidder upon full payment.
Whoever wins the bidding, Abella said that other than the income tax of the city, they will be the one to shoulder all applicable taxes arising from the transaction.
These include capital gains, documentary stamp, clearances and registration fees.
This is not the first time a portion in Pond F was eyed for disposal to generate revenues for the city.
Last July, Mayor Tomas Osmeña instructed City Legal Officer Atty. Joseph Bernaldez to formulate the terms of reference for the transaction and to study how much is the price of the lots in the SRP.
In June 2015, the consortium of Ayala Land-Cebu Holdings Inc., SM Prime Holdings Inc., and Filinvest Land Inc. bought a total of 45 has. of land in the SRP for P35,000 to P38,000 per sq. m.
Of the parcel, 26, has. were bought by Ayala and SM whild the 19.2, has. were bought by Filinvest. The sale was closed for P16.76 billion.
Last August, the City already received the 50 percent downpayment from the consortium which amounted to P8.35 billion.
The remaining half is supposed to be payable in three years, starting last August 2016.
The City Council has referred Abella’s ordinance to the committee on laws for their comment.
The sale will concretize real estate values of land in the SRP as an erstwhile starting point for investments. NENDELL HANZ ABELLA Cebu City Councilor