Manila Bay with its world-famous sunset: Up for more reclamation PHOTO BY DON LEJANO/INQUIRER.net
Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has expressed its interest to bid for Pasay City’s 300-hectare land reclamation project, potentially competing against the SM group, which had earlier submitted an unsolicited proposal.
But Ayala Land said that, given the estimated P54.5-billion cost of the project, it would need “more time to study the issues and prepare a competitive counterproposal.”
The property firm has already asked the city government for 60 more working days to study and submit a competing bid, Solomon Hermosura, ALI corporate secretary said in an Oct. 23 letter he wrote to Pasay Mayor Antonino Calixto.
ALI said it learned of the “unsolicited proposal from SM Land” only last week when it was published as required to notify the public.
Challengers have only until Nov. 4 to submit their counterproposals, which ALI said was too short to develop a master plan, study its financial and environmental impact, and how to maximize the benefits to Pasay City, the national government, and the public at large.
“This will confirm our interest in submitting a counterproposal…. We are the Philippines’ leading real estate developer and we are committed to be a strong partner in nation-building,” the company said in its letter.
In the published notice to the public, competing bidders are required to have a minimum net worth of P50 billion. They also must have “undertaken and completed a similar reclamation project with an area of not less than 120 hectares, preferably within the Manila Bay area.”
The SM and Ayala groups, two of the country’s leading players in the property industry, have battled over the years and, to this day, are still vying for control over a number of property deals.
Apart from asking for more time to submit a counterproposal, ALI requested a reduction of the P5-million “non-refundable bid document fee” or waiver of the fee, citing the interest of the right to information on matters of public concern. The Ayala property firm said the fee was significantly higher than what was required in other public-private partnership projects.
“The government can only benefit from having as many parties as possible, and setting a prohibitive fee can discourage capable bidders from participating,” the company said.
Also, public access and scrutiny of the unsolicited proposal could not be barred through the imposition of a prohibitive fee, ALI added.
“Nonetheless, we are amenable to paying a fee for the bid documents, for so long as they are within reason,” the company said.
If and when the government accepts its unsolicited proposal, SM will attain an original proponent status. The project will then be subjected to a Swiss challenge, but the original proponent will have the right to improve its proposal and match the best counteroffer.
Originally posted at 01:17 pm |Wednesday, October 23, 2013