‘Don’t rush us’ Belen tells BSL
SP TO STUDY MC ADORE “BARGAIN” OFFER
LET’S not rush it.
This was the reaction of Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), to the second letter sent by Mayor Benjamin Lim to the council recommending the acceptance of the offer of a Dagupan-based realty company to buy the government-owned MC Adore property for P68 million.
“The MC Adore property is a major asset of Dagupan City, therefore, the city government should not rush into selling it just simply because there is a buyer,” Fernandez said.
The vice mayor said the P68 million offer of ARBROS Realty for the MC Adore property, which is on a prime location in the center of the city, sounds like a “bargain price” given the terms of sale by the buyer
The SP will look into the company’s proposed set terms and conditions that includes a provision making the city government assume the payment of accrued real property taxes, capital gains tax, documentary stamps and agent’s commission.
In turn, the letter of Engr. Oscar Arcinue to Lim dated April 5, 2011 also specifies that the buyer, ARBROS Realty, will only assume payment of transfer tax and registration.
WHAT’S THE COST?
Fernandez said the SP intends to first gather information on the cost of money involved, interest incurred, current zonal valuation of the property, estimated value, assessment of the property and the building by the city engineer as well as the city assessor, among others.
“Without all these data, the SP can not make a reasonable estimate on the true value of the property,” Fernandez said.
The current market value of properties in the area where MC Adore is located is reportedly P24,000 per square meter.
Built in the 1970s by businesswoman Modesta Sabeniano, the building used to be a five-star hotel.
The MC Adore property has a total land area of 5,113.99 square meters. The building, consisting of five floors, totals 11,990.53 square meters while the helipad at its roof deck covers 12,673 square meters.
“But we will not just take this as its face value. We will have yet to validate this matter because we will not let the city lose in this transaction,” the vice mayor said.
The MC Adore property, situated between Galvan and Zamora Streets, was bought under the previous term of Lim for P50 million from the Assets Privatization Corporation which took over the property from the Development Bank of the Philippines. It was fully paid in 2007.
The Lim administration purchased the property ostensibly to convert it into a new city hall but the plan was never pursued after the purchase.
“We also want to know if the city government spent for other fees, aside from the P50 million it paid in acquiring the property,” Fernandez told newsmen.
She stressed that the SP will not allow the city to lose again like it did in the sale of an old dredging machine as mere scrap iron for only P94,000.
OTHER PROPERTIES
Meanwhile, the PUNCH learned that Mayor Lim also intends to sell another property of the city government located in Calasiao that was earlier purchased as a site for a housing project for members of the Dagupan city government employees’ cooperative.
At the same time, the Lim administration is reportedly bent on buying a 4,500 square meter property in Barangay Tebeng, now occupied by the newly-opened Tebeng Elementary School, for P9 million.
Vice Mayor Fernandez said the SP will look into all the planned transactions.
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