Half of Mile Long property to be sold: DOF

The government plans to sell only half of the 2.9-hectare “Mile Long” property in Makati City and develop the rest to gain more from the property. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA — The government plans to sell only half of the 2.9-hectare “Mile Long” property in Makati City and develop the rest to gain more from the property.

The property was leased to Sunvar Realty Development Corp. of the Rufino-Prieto families, owner of the major daily Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI), for 20 years starting February 1982. It should have been vacated as early as 2002 but the realty firm turned it over only last year.

Earlier, the Makati Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) ordered the realty firm to vacate the property and pay the government rentals for the years it stayed beyond the lease agreement.

Sunvar, however, said it made an advance payment of PHP16.8 million to develop the property with the understanding that the lease period would expire in 2027.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the initial plan is to divide the property into three or four lots and sell only two of these.

“I just want to wait for the price to go up. Once the development starts there, prices will go up,” he said.

Valuation of the property is seen to be completed by March and the portion that would be sold would be offered starting middle of this year, Dominguez said.

“I told the President already I don’t plan to sell the whole thing. I’ll sell a portion of it,” he said.

“I explained to him that once the development starts there, the prices will go up so why shouldn’t we benefit from it anyway,” he added.