The government probably isn’t going to be able to sell the land owned by Food Terminals, Inc. There’s simply no interest in buying the 103-hectare property. The Arroyo government tried to sell it last year for P13 billion, but that plan didn’t work out. This piece of Philippine real estate is probably worth that much, but the government is prepared to sell it at less than P10 billion. It gets more than P200 million in revenues from FTI leases, but that just might be what’s driving investors away from it.
The best choice, according to Finance Undersecretary John Sevilla, is to buy the whole property, rather than just a portion of it. This strategy allows Philippine real estate companies to use it to their benefit, maximizing its potential. The sale doesn’t look possible within the year, but there’s always next year, which promises to be better for the economy and the real estate industry in the Philippines.
