AC Infrastructure Holdings Corporation and SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) have submitted an unsolicited proposal to construct and operate an elevated toll road that would link Sta. Mesa in Manila to the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Complex in Pasay City via the Central Business District.
In separate regulatory disclosures, AC Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ayala Corporation, and SMIC said they filed the unsolicited proposal with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on March 31. The proposal features the design, finance, construction, operation, and maintenance of the 8.6-kilometer-long elevated toll road for a period of 35 years, with an estimated project cost of P25 billion.
The proposed toll road, to be called C3 Elevated Expressway (C3EX), completes Circumferential Road 3 (C3) and is expected to reduce traffic congestion along EDSA and improve access to Manila Bay development areas, the Makati central business district, and the cities of Mandaluyong, San Juan, and Manila.
It is proposed to have interchanges in Sta. Mesa, the Circuit Makati, Ayala-Gil Puyat, Roxas Boulevard, and SM MOA. The proposed project will go through the government process for unsolicited proposals under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law.
Based on its target timeline as prescribed under the BOT Law, the two firms expect the unsolicited proposal to be evaluated by DPWH in July, and then evaluated by the National Economic and Development Authority-Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) between August and September. Negotiations are expected to be held from September to November and NEDA-ICC approval to be given by December.
The comparative proposal process is forecast to be conducted from January to March 2018, and the awarding of contract to take place by the second quarter of next year.
AC Infrastructure president and chief executive officer Jose Rene Almendras said the project is the idea of SMIC, the holding firm of SM Group of Companies that is engaged in the retail, banking, and property businesses, and that owns SM malls, such as the one at the MOA Complex.
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