“Don’t’ sell MC Adore for a song”–VM
NOTHING wrong with selling the MC Adore building, but it must be to the best interest of the city and not the buyer.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez made this statement in response to an accusations by Mayor Benjamin Lim that the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), which she chairs, did not act on the offer made initially by Arbros Realty Corporation, a prominent Dagupan-based company, to buy MC Adore at P68 million.
“MC Adore must not be sold for a song,” said Fernandez on the derelict five-star hotel, that was bought by the city government under the previous term of Lim, ostensibly to convert it into a new city hall.
“The legislative body has not reneged on its job to protect the interest of the city,” said Fernandez.
Arbos has since withdrawn its offer but another local company, Managen Realty Development Corporation, proposed to purchase the property for P75 million.
Lim endorsed both offers to the SP and in both instances asked for the city council for authority to negotiate its sale.
The vice mayor said both offers are “disadvantageous to the city” as the property could fetch more than P200 million based on the last zone valuation made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue a few years ago.
“We should be very careful in this transaction. Remember, we already lost when we bought the property,” said Fernandez, referring to “lost opportunities in terms of social services when P50 million was used to buy a virtually useless asset.”
“We can not afford to lose the second time around,” she added.
ZONAL VALUE
Based on the zone valuation made by the Revenue District Office No. 4, properties along Zamora Street, where MC Adore is located, are valued from P20,000 to P24,000 per square meter (sqm).
The MC Adore is situated on a lot of 5,100 sqms and the building covers about 2,000 sqms.
Fernandez pointed out that to determine the selling price, the city must consider not only the zonal value of the property but also all the expenses incurred for the purchase such as capital gains taxes, interests, penalties, and agent’s commission, among other items.
“So why sell at P68 million or P75 million when the property should fetch about P240 million?” Fernandez asked.
The vice mayor also sought city hall’s plan in the event the MC Adore property is sold.
NO, THANK YOU
At the same time, Fernandez dismissed Lim’s challenge that she, as an entrepreneur, should purchase the property herself.
Fernandez, head of her family-owned CSI Group of Companies, pointed out that from a business perspective, the MC Adore is not attractive to her since it is not adjacent to their other commercial properties.
She said the owner of the properties next to MC Adore would probably benefit most and be the ones interested.
MC Adore stands beside CentroMart, owned by Mayor Lim, and the JVF Lying-in Hospital.
MC Adore was built by businesswoman Modesta Sabeniano as a five-star hotel but it was foreclosed by the Development Bank of the Philippines and eventually turned over to the government-owned Assets Privatization Trust (APT).
The city bought MC Adore from APT at a P10-million annual installment for five years that ended in 2007.
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