SSS offers Fort Boni property

THE SOCIAL SECURITY System (SSS) wants to sell an 8,300-square-meter property in Fort Bonifacio for P2.24 billion, looking to take advantage of a real estate boom in the area.

The state-run pension fund has set a minimum price of P269,894 per square meter for the property, which consists of four lots along McKinley Parkway between 10th and 11th avenues near the newly opened SM Aura.

Interested bidders will have to make a deposit of at least 10% of the bid price for the property, which SSS Commissioner Diana Pardo-Aguilar told reporters had been purchased in 2003.

“[It] was then worth P850 million,” Ms. Pardo-Aguilar said in a press conference, adding that over “10 years, I think 16% [annually] is a very fair return to our members so far as the investment fund is concerned.”

She said the SSS was not looking at a joint venture as it was “not a property developer.”

Invitations to bid will be published on July 3, 10 and 17, with a pre-bidding conference set for July 22. Eligibility documents need to be submitted by August 15 and the cash bids by September 4. A winning bidder is expected to be named between Sept. 26 and Oct. 2.

“This is the most opportune time to sell, while land prices are at peak levels,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio S. de Quiros, Jr. said at the press conference.

With the former military base in Taguig being aggressively transformed into an upscale business/residential district, Mr. de Quiros said the property being offered represents “a great opportunity for interested developers to acquire a substantial block in the area.”

Ms. Pardo-Aguilar said the asset sale was part of efforts to maximize returns and minimize risks for the pension fund, which services the private sector.

Mr. de Quiros said the SSS’ net revenue grew by 41.7% last year to P36.20 billion. Its investable fund, meanwhile was at P350 billion as of April this year.

“[A] good portion of that is fixed income,” he added.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mistakenly used "hectares" instead of "square meters" to describe the area of the SSS property in Fort Bonifacio. 

source:  Businessworld