Council body sets conditions on Kawit JV deal

BEFORE approving the resolution to allow the Cebu City Government to officially enter into a joint-venture agreement (JVA) with the Universal Hotels and Resorts Inc. (UHRI) to develop the 8-hectare Kawit Property in the South Road Properties (SRP), the ad hoc committee of the Cebu City Council has laid down conditions both parties needed to comply with.

During the council’s regular session on Tuesday, April 24, the five-member committee presented their report, containing the findings and observations during their three-day deliberation in March,

The conditions include directing the Gokongwei-led UHRI to furnish the ad hoc committee a copy of their financial statement and fast track the development of the property by reducing their grace period from nine to eight years.

They also requested several modifications in the firm’s contract such as specifying the P1.8 billion performance bond, and that there should be a mutual negotiation instead of an automatic renewal once their lease expires after 50 years.

The committee also asked the proponent to justify as to why they would only allocate 10 percent of their gross rental revenue from their hotel, bare-shell integrated resort, and shopping mall, and 15 percent from their casino to the city government.

The Cebu City government is also instructed to explicitly put into the contract that UHRI shall pay the real property taxes for both the land and the buildings expected to rise on it, and to submit quarterly income reports to them.

The committee members are Councilors Renato Osmeña Jr., Margarita Osmeña, Raymond Alvin Garcia, Sisinio Andales, and Jose Daluz III.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, for his part, said he would study the recommendation made by the ad-hoc committee.