Daang Hari-SLEX opens to motorists in July

MOTORISTS will be able to use the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) link road starting July.

According to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center website, the target date of commercial operation of the Daang Hari-SLEX will be in July, instead of this month.

It said the project was 96 percent complete as of May.

The Daang Hari-SLEX link, now known as the Muntinlupa-Cavite expressway (MCX), was awarded to Ayala Corp. through AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.

Concessionaire Ayala Corp. will be responsible for the finance and construction of Segment I, while for Segment II it will be responsible for finance, design, and construction.

The project is a highway linking Cavite to Metro Manila through the SLEX and was the first contract auctioned off under the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme.

It involves the construction of a new four-kilometer, four-lane toll road from the junction of Daang Reyna and Daang Hari in Las Pinas/Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX through the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntinlupa, traversing the New Bilibid Prison reservation.

The proposed link-road will use the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of SLEX, and will include the construction of a new bridge or widening of the existing bridge crossing SLEX as well as the expansion of the Susana Heights toll plaza.

The project is under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and is a build-transfer-operate (BTO) contractual agreement with a concession period of 30 years.

source:  Manila Times



Daang Hari-SLEX link may open before Feb 2015 - Oct 07 2014  

VEHICLES may be allowed to use the P2.01-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway [SLEX] link road ahead of the expected completion of the project in February next year, Ayala Corp., the project contractor, said on Monday.

“Completion of the construction will be February [2015]. There [is] typically a lag in construction, completion and commercial operation. Kailangan mo pa ng [you still need] approval from the TRB [Toll Regulatory Board],” John Eric Francia, group head for Corporate Strategy and Development of Ayala Corp., told reporters.

“Hopefully, we would like to see that gap as little as possible,” he said, adding that they have the option to start allowing cars to use the Daang Hari-SLEX link road for free before the official opening.

“If you notice, that’s happened in Skyway, TPLEX [Tarlac-Pampang-La Union Expressway], that is the standard. Meron konting [There is a bit of] sampling. Hopefully hindi naman sobrang haba [it should not be too long]. We have to recover the investment also.”

The project is a highway linking Cavite to Metro Manila through the SLEX and was the first contract auctioned off under the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.

It involves the construction of a new four-kilometer, four-lane toll road from the junction of Daang Reyna and DaangHari in Las Pin~as/Bacoor, Cavite to SLEX through the Susana Heights Interchange in Muntin lupa, traversing the New Bilibid Prison reservation.

The proposed link-road will use the Susana Heights Interchange as exit and entry from north and south of SLEX, and will include the construction of a new bridge or widening of the existing bridge crossing SLEX as well as the expansion of the Susana Heights toll plaza.

The project is under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and is a build-transfer-operate (BTO) contractual agreement with a concession period of 30 years.

“We were able to go full blast in February [this year] because dun talaga na clear yung right of way on the SLEX side [that was when the right of way issue on the SLEX side was cleared],” he said, adding that it usually takes 12 months to build such a project from full blast.

The link road was originally due for completion in June this year but due to some problems, the target completion date was moved to December. It was moved again to early next year due to rains and flooding.

“But we’re of course pushing — if we get good weather and do all of these catch-up plans — December would have been a fighting target, given the strong rains and floods that were having. Unfortunately it’s too much of a stretch to expect that,” Francia said.

source:  Manila Times

SM Prime-Ayala Land tandem bags P10-billion Cebu City dev’t project

A CONSORTIUM of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. and Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) won the bid to develop a portion of the South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City for P10 billion, marking the third partnership of the two real estate behemoths less than a year after burying the hatchet over a stake in the unlisted property holding firm of the Ortigas family.

The move of the Sy and Ayala families’ real estate companies to team up highlights the need for such cooperation to acquire prime land and boost operational efficiency as they target opportunities in the property market, analysts said.

In a joint statement attached to their disclosures yesterday, SM Prime and Ayala Land said SM-ALI Group consortium, which also includes the latter’s affiliate Cebu Holdings, Inc., will jointly develop the 26.34-hectare (ha) lot in the reclaimed 300-ha SRP area once a master plan is in place.

Yesterday, shares of SM Prime added 14 centavos or 0.71% to end P19.98 apiece, Cebu Holdings gained 10 centavos or 1.98% to P5.16 per share, while those of ALI dropped 35 centavos or 0.93% to P37.30 apiece.

JOINT MUSCLE
The consortium will combine the “financial muscle, technical expertise and the real estate experience” of the SM and the ALI group, the statement read.

“Ayala Land is pleased to have been awarded the 26-ha South Road Properties lot in Cebu, which we will jointly master-plan and develop with the SM group,” ALI President Bernard Vincent O. Dy said in a mobile phone message.

“We look forward to working with them on this project, which will be a mixed-use development in what we believe will be a major growth area in Cebu.”

SM Prime and ALI’s decision to work together can be viewed as a “strategic” decision to increase their operational efficiency at a time when prime lots are harder to come by, analysts said.

“Usually, we should see smaller developers partnering with big developers because one would need the expertise and scale of the other,” Julius Guevara, head of advisory services at Colliers Philippines, said in a mobile phone message.

“With these two major property developers joining together, this just shows that land is getting harder to acquire so we’ll probably see these kinds of transactions more and more.”

Claro dG. Cordero Jr., head of research and valuation at real estate advisory firm Jones Lang La Salle, said separately in a mobile phone message: “We can expect big property developers working together to raise the level of operational efficiency in order to create bigger value for the stakeholders of both companies, especially for the development of projects outside of the core business and investment areas.”

Fierce competitors in the areas of banking and real estate, the Sy and Ayala families decided work together following a decision to jointly manage and develop the Ortigas family’s OCLP Holdings, Inc. in November 2014 after a legal row that lasted two years.

Early this year, SM Prime and ALI teamed up with Megaworld Corp. and Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. to form Trident Infrastructure and Development Corp. in vying for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike Project -- one of the biggest infrastructure projects the Aquino administration has rolled out to date.

“With the closure of the agreement with Ortigas and the opportunity in Lakeshore, they have more experience with each other and -- going into this project -- they may have reached a certain comfort level,” Mr. Guevara said.

Miguel A. Agarao, analyst at Wealth Securities, Inc., noted in a telephone interview: “It’s too much to expect these companies to ally with each other moving forward, but in cases where there’s too much to be lost in competing, it’s better to ally.”

This latest development boosts the presence of both property firms in the booming Cebu real estate market.

The ALI Group has partnered with the Aboitizes for a 15-ha city center in Mandaue City, as well as with the Gaisano group to develop the latter’s 12-hectare property on Mactan Island into a leisure-oriented project.

SM Prime, on the other hand, is building the 30-hectare SM Seaside City in SRP and was awarded last month a 1,500-hectare reclamation project in the town of Cordova.

“This is definitely a positive development for both companies and the property industry as a whole since this shows that major developers are still bullish on the prospects of real estate,” Lexter L. Azurin, head of research at Unicapital Securities, Inc., said in a phone interview.

source:  Businessworld