IRC-led group gets original proponent status for Makati subway project

A consortium led by property developer IRC Properties has bagged “original proponent status” from the Makati City government for an unsolicited proposal to build a $3.7-billion subway system to ease traffic bottlenecks within the city, which is home to the country’s premier central business district.

The IRC consortium —which includes Greenland Holdings Group, Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group Co. Ltd., Holdings Ltd. and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd.—proposed to construct an 11-kilometer intracity subway with eight to 10 stations that will connect key points in Makati’s two districts at no cost to the city.

The proposed subway is seen to complement the mass transport projects of the national government as it will interconnect with the Metro Railway Transit, the proposed Metro Manila Mega Subway and Pasig River ferry.

An original proponent status, which marks the acceptance by the host local government unit, is just the first step for IRC to pursue this infrastructure project proposal. The next step is to conduct detailed negotiations on the technical and financial aspects. As an unsolicited project, it will also be subjected to a Swiss challenge, wherein Makati will invite other bidders but the original proponent holds the right to match the best offer.

The consortium seeks to establish and operate the Makati mass transport system, which has a daytime population of 4.5 million.

To prepare for this big-ticket project, IRC recently applied to increase its authorized capital to P10.5 billion from P1.5 billion.