CEBU CITY—The Cebu City government is hoping to settle development plans with interested locators at the 240-hectare reclaimed South Road Properties (SRP) in the next three months, City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said.

The mayor said development plans are being shuffled back and forth between interested developers and the city, which he admitted is being “choosy” in the development it wants on the property.

“I am the problem. I am very strict in the development in the area. If I don’t want their plants and their structures, I send back the plans to them [developers],” Osmeña told BusinessMirror.

He said, however, that discussions are going into the right direction, and agreements on the development plans and structures could be accomplished before the end of the first half of 2008.

“The SRP will come into full bloom in the next three months. The mango that we planted is not only flowering but is already bearing fruit,” he said.

The SRP, completed in 2001, was built through a 25-year loan package obtained by the city government from the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC). The deal was the first major overseas-loan package obtained and being paid for by a local government unit to a foreign funding institution.

“Our critics said the city will go bankrupt because of this loan. We are not bankrupt and this project will make us less dependent on financial help from the national government,” the mayor said.

After the agreement on the development, however, the developers and the city would have to undergo bidding on the property after the Commission on Audit (COA) ruled that the city could not enter into negotiated sale or lease for the property.

“COA required us to go through bidding, but I don’t see any problem in that,” the mayor said.

At least three realty development giants are positioning to get huge parcels of land at the SRP for various projects, the mayor announced earlier. The developers are eyeing leisure, residential and business-process outsourcing areas.

A separate area is also being set aside for industrial locators.
Article source: BusinessMirror