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A world-class shopping mall and a convention center will be set up by SM Prime Holdings in its 30.4 hectare property in the South Road Properties, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said yesterday.
The mayor, who announced that SM is one of three investors setting up shop in the reclamation area, said the company purchased five parcels worth P2.7 billion for development as a mixed-use facility.
The SM mall will occupy a 25 hectare floor area, twice the existing SM mall in the Cebu City North Reclamation Area (NRA).
The proposed convention center has a minimum 20,000 square meter floor area.
?They can build a big convention center at no cost to the city...,? the mayor said in Cebuano in reference to the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), which cost the province at least P800 million.
Osmeña reiterated that he wanted to prove to critics like Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia that the SRP can generate additional income for the city.
SM also plans to set up a hotel with a 60,000-square-meter floor area to complement their convention center.
The mayor said SM plans to set up a school building, a hospital and high-rise condominiums five years after building the mall, convention center and hotel.
He said SM proposed to pay 25 percent of the bid price in cash within 15 days after receiving a Notice of Award from the city.
It would pay the rest of the amount within six years with five percent interest rate, Osmeña added.
The Cebu City government will still have to bid out the property through a Swiss challenge system in which any eligible investor can either match or present a better offer to the city.
The Commission on Audit (COA) already approved the Swiss Challenge as the bidding process to be followed for the 30.4 hectare property.
Although SM has an asset base exceeding P95 billion, Osmeña said they lowered the standards to P50 billion in capitalization to accomodate their bid.
Aside from SM, Bigfoot Entertainment and a Korean group plan to build condominium units and a hotel-casino respectively in the SRP.
