• CHERYL G. CRUZ
The public hearing on the proposed lease agreement between the Bacolod City government and SM Prime Holdings (SMPH) Inc. will be held tomorrow, Oct. 10, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod session hall.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the SP Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government, said this morning, Oct. 9, that SMPH executives are expected to arrive from Manila to attend the public hearing that will be jointly conducted with the Committee on Markets, headed by Councilor Celia Matea Flor.
Invited to the hearing are all SP members, SMPH president Jeffrey Lim, representatives from the Manokan Vendors Plaza, Bacolod Youth and Sports (BAYS) Center, City Legal Office, and other stakeholders.
The proposed lease and development will involve an aggregate area of about 16,875 square meters, where the Manokan Country, Vendors’ Plaza, BAYS Center, and other city structures at Fr. M. Ferrero Street, are located.
SMPH is proposing a monthly rental fee of P1.77 million for these City properties. On the date of the signing of the agreement, the lessee (SMPH) shall pay the lessor (Bacolod LGU) P131 million in advance rental, as per the draft proposal endorsed by Mayor Alfredo Benitez to the SP Sept. 28.
Under the proposal, the SMPH’s minimum cost of investment in the leased premises is P3 billion. “The term of the lease shall be for 40 years, from the start of the commercial operations of the lease structures…which shall be automatically renewed for another 10 years, provided the lessee does not commit a substantial breach of its obligations…”
SMPH shall develop and use the leased premises for mixed commercial use and/or for sublease to third parties.
Benitez said in a press conference this morning the SM plan is to institutionalize the Manokan Country as a prime tourist destination, with more buildings and food areas.
He said the “Manokan tenants will still be given the right to be in the improved facility”, provided that they are not remiss in their rental payments. | CGC
