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London
Times
UK developer wins $700m Panama contract
London
& Regional Properties, a privately owned British developer,
has won the right to build a new mini-city on the banks of the
Panama Canal, The Times has learnt. The London-based firm, founded
and run by the brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone, beat competition
from 16 other international firms to be selected as preferred
bidder this week.
The $700 million (£355 million) project promises to be one
of the largest development projects in the world, covering 2,750
acres, and it could transform the trading fortunes of Panama.
The plan is the most ambitious scheme to be taken on by London
& Regional, probably best known in Britain as the firm that
bought the old Marks & Spencer headquarters on Baker Street.
The area in Panama, just half a mile from Panama City and right
on the canal, covers an area the size of London stretching from
Regent's Park in the north to the Oval cricket ground in the south
and from Sloane Square in the west to London Bridge in the East.
At the heart of the 40-year building programme for the "Howard
Project" is the proximity to the world's busiest trade canal
and an air-strip built by the Americans stretching 2.75km but
which has been largely derelict since US forces pulled out of
the country eight years ago.
The site is earmarked for a massive new trading hub, known as
a "multimodal port" which will take in both the air-strip,
the canal and build vast depots to store all manner of goods that
pass through the canal.
Jason Mills, development director at London & Regional, said:
"This underlines the attractiveness of Panama as a global
investment destination." About 60 per cent of the trade in
and out of the United States passes through the Panama Canal,
while the land-site sits on the Pan American highway, a motorway
that runs from South America right up to California, accounting
for more US trade.
Singapore Airlines has already struck a deal to refurbish its
Asian fleet of aircraft on the site. The area is also earmarked
for thousands of new homes, hotels, a golf course and science
park, all generating at least 20,000 jobs.
London & Regional have teamed up with Isaac and Jaime Gilinski,
the father and son Panamanian developers who carry considerable
influence in Central America. Sources close to the deal said that
London & Regional did not need any further debt or equity
partners for the project.
The Panamanian Government invited the World Bank two years ago
to run an international auction to select a developer of the site.
London & Regional beat off competition in the final round
from the Miami-based property firm Easton Group.
Other bidders included the Codina Group, from Florida, and Cabi
Control, from Mexico. Mr. Mills said: "The Panamanian Government
has been forward-looking in hiring the World Bank in a transparent
tender process."
The Panamanian Cabinet is due to ratify the decision to appoint
L&R next week, with completion expected next month. A formal
master planning application will be submitted three months later.
