RS 19 BN CHALMERS GRANARY DEVELOPMENT TO KICK OFF IN JUNE 2019

The ambitious Rs 19 billion Chalmers Granary Project will kick off in June 2019.

“There are four consortia of investors, comprising two Singaporeans, a Korean and a Britisher who have expressed interest in the project and they have asked for an extension of time to submit their bids till end January due to the prevailing political impasse but the project is definitely on, Urban Development Authority Director General Sumedha Ratnayake told Daily News Business yesterday. He said that all four consortia of investors have been told to submit their bids and they have the options of either going in for apartment complexes, office complexes or an assortment of hotels, the UDA DG said. Asked why no local consortium was in the fray, Ratnayake explained that the magnitude of the investment was perceived to be excessive for the average local conglomerate.

Ratnayake said that the already submitted bids had been submitted to the Cabinet Appointed Tender Board(CATB) and it was the CATB which provided the extension of time to the four bidders till January 2019 due to the prevailing political backdrop. The evaluations will be done and the winning bidder will be able to kick start the project(s) by June 2019, he explained.

He said that the investors will have the discretion of comingout withtheir proposals so long as they complied and conformed to the planning regulations. They have to come out with a 50% Bond Coverage, he said.

He explained that the investors would be given the option of a multitude of alternatives. One would be to purchase the land outright at the Government Valuer’s valuation which was Rs. 19 billion and proceed with the project(s) of their choice. The second would be to come into a joint venture with the UDA in the form of a joint stock company where the investors own a parcel of the shares. The third option would be for the investor to construct complexes to match the Rs. 19 Billion value of the land.

The project proposals will be evaluated by the Technical Evaluation Committee and marks will be given for the proposals, he said.