THE Cebu City government is P110 million richer after the SM Prime Holdings Inc. turned over the second payment for the lot it bought in the South Road Properties.

Sherry Tuvilla, SM mall manager, turned over the P110,082,050 check to Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday outside City Hall where some senior citizens were receiving their cash gifts given by the city.

This was SM’s second payment to the city government after they closed the sale of a 34.4-hectare lot worth P2.7 billion early this year.

Mayor Osmeña said the payment will go directly to the city’s coffers and that it’s up to the next mayor to spend the money.

Osmeña said he was expecting SM would be done with some of their plans for the SRP lot they purchased in three years.

This would include the establishment of the biggest shopping mall in the Visayas and Mindanao, which was part of the discussions during the negotiations.

SM had turned over a P406-million check to the city last January after the signing of the conditional sale with Osmeña.

SM had already paid P677.4 million, including the P270.9-million bid bond paid as part of the down payment.

SM will make four quarterly payments this year that will amount to P433 million.

As specified in the contract, SM will pay the balance of P2,032,283,000 over a period of six years in quarterly installments, with a five percent annual interest.

Last January during the first payment of SM Prime Holdings, President Hans T. Sy said that by 2012, the SRP will be home of the biggest shopping mall in the Visayas and Mindanao with a gross floor area of 25 hectares.

The SM Prime will invest at least P20 billion for a mixed-use development project facing the sea, which will include a convention center, hotels, residential condominiums, a school and a hospital.