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By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel Reporter
MEGAWORLD Corp. announced on
Tuesday that it has submitted to the government “a firm offer”
to buy the old Iloilo airport that is scheduled to be disposed this
year.
In a statement, Megaworld said it
wants to buy the 54.4-hectare lot for P1.2 billion.
In a phone interview, Kingson
Sian, Megaworld president, said the proposal was made as the
government called for a resubmission of bids. Sian, however, said
he is not privy as to when the second auction would take place.
The property developer plans to
convert the government lot into a new business district and seek its
registration as a special economic zone with the Philippine Economic
Zone Authority.
The former airport site, which is
4 kilometers from downtown Iloilo City, can be a center for major
business-process outsourcing (BPO) companies that are interested
to set up operations in the Visayas region, Megaworld said.
Besides BPOs, the project may
host educational facilities to provide value-added training for
employees suited for call centers and other BPO businesses.
Early this year, an auction of
the airport site failed after all three bidders submitted offers
below the floor price of P1.2 billion.
The companies that submitted bids
include SM Prime Holdings Inc., which offered P435.7 million; Empire
East Landholdings Inc., P701 million; and Robinson’s Land Corp.,
P1.089 billion.
Empire East said it may back out
of the rebidding since the asking price is “too high” for a
developer that caters to the lower middle-income market.
Because of this, the Department
of Finance is mulling a lower floor price for the second round of
bidding. The finance department said it is legally prohibited to
conduct a negotiated sale because it did not set a minimum price
before the first auction.
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