New Clark City golf, hotel project to undergo Swiss challenge

THE Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) said it will initiate a Swiss challenge this week for a golf and mountain resort project in New Clark City, BCDA President and CEO Vivencio B. Dizon said.

“There are other new developments in the leisure and tourism area; in fact you will probably be seeing an advertisement for a Swiss challenge in the coming days for a luxury mountain resort,” Mr. Dizon said during the Makati Business Club Annual Meeting on Monday.

Mr. Dizon told BusinessWorld that the 400-hectare project in New Clark City will be a “P12 billion plus investment.”

A Swiss challenge kicks in on unsolicited projects put forward by an original proponent. The proponent’s bid is subject to challenge by third parties, which the proponent has the right to match.

According to Mr. Dizon, the project’s original proponents are the French hospitality company AccorHotels, South Korea’s Widus International Leisure, Inc., and Singapore hotel chain The Banyan Tree among others.

“We will be publishing the Swiss Challenge documents in the next couple of days for anyone interested to challenge that proposal,” Mr. Dizon said during the annual meeting.

The development of New Clark City in Central Luzon is positioned as a smart city with the potential to host alternative government offices and decongest Metro Manila.

Ongoing projects at Phase 1 of the 9,500-hectare New Clark City include the 200-hectare National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) being built by AlloyMTD Philippines, and two private-sector led projects: the 288-hectare mixed-used industrial park by Filinvest Land, Inc. and a 500-hectare industrial park by China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd.

The completion of the first 60 hectares of the NGAC is targeted for the end of August while the facilities will be tested in September.

Phase 1 of the project involves the construction of a sports complex which will be the venue for the Southeast Asian Games between Nov. 30 and Dec. 11. — Katrina T. Mina