The Mile Long Property on Amorsolo Street in Makati. Privatization Management Office
The government has raked in P142.6 million since taking over the “Mile Long” strip in Makati from the Prieto family, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.
Since the court-ordered takeover in August 2017, the 2.2-hectare prime real estate on Amorsolo Street in Legazpi Village has generated an average monthly profit of P6.7 million.
The government got nothing from the former lessee, Sunvar Realty Development Corp. of the Prietos, for 14 years, after it refused to vacate the property, the DOF said.
The lease contract, which the Duterte government claimed was a sweetheart deal, ended in 2002.
After a protracted legal battle, the government took over the spaces occupied by Sunvar Plaza, the McDonald’s restaurant, The Gallery, Creekside Building, Mile Long, and Louie Cinema/TIU Theater/Arcadia.
Gerard Chan, head of the Privatization Management Office, said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that at the end of June 2019, Mile Long’s occupancy rate stood at 71 percent, with 219 units occupied out of 309.
The government has also earned money from three parking areas within the property, he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte has been critical of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the daily broadsheet controlled by the Prietos, because of its coverage of his 2016 campaign and administration. (Jojo Mangahis)