The government’s net income from rental and parking fees from its 2.2-hectare Mile Long property in Makati City likely reached P205.76 million as of January 2020 since the time it took over its management in mid-2017.
Citing a report by the Privatization Management Office (PMO), the Department of Finance (DOF) said in a statement last Tuesday that the government has so far collected P262.68 million from August 2017 to January 2020 from tenants occupying the Mile Long Property.
On top of this, the PMO is also expecting to collect another P2.56 million in receivables.
This brings the actual and estimated total collections from the prime lot to P265.25 million as of January, according to Chief Privatization Officer Gerard L. Chan of the Department of Finance (DOF)-attached PMO.
After deducting actual and estimated expenses amounting to P59.48 million, the government likely gained a net income of P205.76 million over the last 28 months that the PMO has been managing the property, Chan said.
The property is almost 73 percent occupied as of January.
The Mile Long property has a total of 312 rental units, of which 227 are occupied by 131 establishments, leaving 85 units available for occupancy.
Of the 85 available units, 22 are already reserved for the Supreme Court (SC), Chan said.
The SC has already signified its intention to house some of its offices in the Sunvar Plaza portion of the Mile Long lot.
Chan earlier said the government has so far been earning around P7 million a month in net income from the property since the government took over.
The DOF said that for 14 years, the government did not collect anything in rental fees from the prime Makati lot’s former lessee, Sunvar Realty Development Corp., prior to PMO’s takeover due to the then-pending legal case over the property.
Last Thursday, President Duterte issued Administrative Order (AO) 21, which gave the PMO the authority to enter into an agreement with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for the redevelopment of Mile Long.
According to the AO, the revenue from the property will also be used to fund other priority programs of the government, as recommended by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
A technical working group (TWG) will formulate the redevelopment and privatization plan for the Mile Long Property, according to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III. He said the TWG will meet this week to finalize the plans and timetable for the project.
Mile Long was previously leased for 35 years to Sunvar Realty prior to a court order for the company owned by the Prieto family to vacate the property. Sunvar insisted its lease contract for the property was above board and should have been honored by the government until its supposed expiration in 2027. It became the subject of a court case after the Solicitor General accused Sunvar of owing the government P1.66 billion worth of rentals for the property.
Duterte became vocal about his opposition to Sunvar’s lease of the Mile Long property in 2017 and accused the firm of failing to pay the necessary fees for it.
At that time, the President said he will sell the property so he could use the proceeds to build houses for uniformed personnel.