News Room
The Times - February 8, 2007
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.
James Rossiter