Coconut Palace eyed for short-term leasing

The state-run pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is looking at leasing its assets, including the Coconut Palace, in the short term to take advantage of higher property valuation when the opportunity comes.

GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint Aranas told the Inquirer that up to three interested parties have expressed interest in the prime Coconut Palace property. He said the pension fund’s board has yet to discuss a timetable for its disposition.

Early this year, the GSIS invited local and foreign real estate developers, institutional developers and hotel industry players to bid for the 25-year lease and development of the three-hectare property located within the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex in Pasay City near Manila Bay.

The Coconut Palace used to host the Office of the Vice President, but Vice President Leni Robredo had instead opted to hold office in the Quezon City property previously dubbed the “Boracay Mansion,” which former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada supposedly owned.

But now, Aranas said the GSIS was instead looking at short-term leases for its assets for practical purposes.

“If you go long-term lease, with the prices already pegged, sometimes it doesn’t make sense … 25 years from now, the prices will be higher,” Aranas explained.

“We want short-term leases, because that way we are economically viable. But the problem with short-term lease is that the investment will not be so big, because, of course, they want to recover their investment,” he added.

In the case of the Coconut Palace, Aranas noted that “it’s already developed—it’s already an icon.”

“We don’t want to have drastic or dramatic changes in the Coconut Palace,” he said. —BEN O. DE VERA