SM Prime Holdings will pay P19 million more to the P2.7 billion the firm agreed to pay the Cebu City government for the 30-hectare South Road Properties (SRP) lot.

Instead of paying P2.7 billion, SM Prime Holdings will add P19 million for the realignment of boundaries, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said on Tuesday.

Osmeña earlier realized that the property that SM Prime wanted to buy included the SRP’s guardhouse and part of the area intended for bus lanes for the bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

He said that he moved the boundary farther from the southern wall and the boundary on the left of the wall towards Kawit island for a few more meters.

He said that the size is the same but the value of the land beside the road is more expensive than the interior lots. That’s why the price went up by P19 million.

“I just approved the final configuration and apparently I did not like the alignment because the BRT road is beside the service road. And they even get the guardhouse, so I moved the boundary by a hundred meters. So when you enter the BRT road, instead of being beside the canal, they have the property of one hundred meters deep, which would be ideal for a high density housing or boarding houses, because of its immediate access to the BRT.” he said.

Osmeña was supposed to sign the notice of award of the sale contract to SM Prime before the year ends but he asked the bids and awards committee (BAC) to put the matter on hold because of the realignment of the boundaries, so the signing may be possible next year.

He said the City may have to rebid the contract.

The city government has already published an invitation to bid so those interested to bid can join the Swiss challenge.

Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said all the terms and conditions of the sale remain the same, and only the shape of the lot will be altered.

SM Prime submitted an unsolicited proposal to buy a 30-hectare portion of the SRP worth P2.7 billion, which they will develop into a shopping mall and convention center.

The proposal went unchallenged during the bidding, prompting the BAC to recommend that the contract he awarded to SM Prime but because of the realignments, the city has to rebid the property.