SM group to conclude talks with hotel investors by yearend- BusinessWorld
Author: Ruby Anne M. Rubio

Sy-led holding firm SM Investments Corp. expects to conclude by yearend talks with international hotel chains for possible investments at the SM Central Business Park, chief financial officer Jose T. Sio told BusinessWorld.

In an interview, Mr. Sio said the listed company is in talks with European and American investors for the SM Central Business Park, the SM group’s latest property development at a 60-hectare reclaimed area off the coastal area in Pasay City.

Expected to be set up in the business park are commercial, residential, office, tourism and entertainment components.
 

A central attraction of the area is the newly opened SM Mall of Asia, SM Prime’s biggest shopping mall so far at 380,000 square meters.

Other developments being planned include corporate headquarters for one or two conglomerates, hotels, office and residential clusters, a coliseum for sporting events and entertainment shows as well as a ferry terminal.

Corazon P. Guidote, vice-president for investor relations, said the master plan of the business park calls for four hotels with the view of the Manila Bay sunset.

‘These are hotel investors who will put up the building and manage it. Hopefully, within the year, there will be some negotiations that can be finalized. We will lease the land to hotel investors who will build and operate. It can be different hotel investors in one row,’ she added.

Ms. Guidote said several options were made available to the investors depending on how the negotiations go.

‘These are just options being considered. They may or may not materialize depending on the negotiation and kind of services the hotel may provide. It can be a stand-alone project,’ she added.

Prospective investors are also given options to manage the Sy group’s hotel in Cebu and 5,700-hectare integrated resort and tourism development in Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas.

‘We need international tourists. Whoever will manage that hotel [in the Central Business Park] will also manage our building in Cebu. There is a hotel structure in Cebu. We are just waiting for the right timing to open. Right now, the tourism industry in Cebu is rather weak,’ Mr. Sio added.

Being developed into a world-class resort, Hamilo Coats is positioned to become a premier leisure destination. The masterplan for the project is already in the advanced stage of preparation. The main access road from the Ternate-Nasugbu Road to the Hamilo cove has already been completed as of January.

‘Hotel operations are not our core competency. These hotel operators have a client base they can bring here. They have their network they can bring in to our own development,’ Ms. Guidote said.

Hans Sy, first executive vice-president of SM Investments, earlier said that it is in serious negotiations with two foreign companies for the possible operation of a hotel within the SM City Cebu complex. Mr. Sy said they were looking for a partner that could put in equity into the project as well as manage the hotel.

SM Investments has earmarked P2.4 billion for two projects located at SM Central Business Park near the site of the Mall of Asia.

Last March, construction of two projects, namely One eComCenter, and the MAITRADE Expo and Convention Center were started.

OneE-comCenter is 10-storey multipurpose building that will accommodate mostly technology-based companies engaged in software development and business process outsourcing (BPO) such as contact centers, animation, and medical transcription. It will also house financial services, consulting, and even tourism-related offices.

The MAITRADE Expo and Convention Center will become the country’s largest privately run exhibition and convention center. The 46,647-square meter building will have three floors and basement parking with a total leasable area of 19,800 square meters.