At 10 am on Tuesday 12 July, the deadline for submitting purchase offers for one of the most valuable megalots in Bogota ends..
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It is located in one of the best areas of Ciudad Salitre, near the prosecutor’s bunker. From the United States embassy, Cundinamarca Administrative Court, and the luxury Gran Hyatt hotel.
Actually, known in the industry as the ‘diamond party’. According to the plans, about 8,689 square metersThat’s almost twice the land on which Casa Nariño is located.
Y It is one of the last estates Beneficencia de Cundinamarca acquired from the legacy of millionaire José Joaquín Vargas.in 1937.
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EL TIEMPO investigated and found that this is an official property and the ‘For Sale’ notice was last uploaded on 22nd June.
The person in charge of executing the public call is Cundinamarca Real Estate Company, which was hired in October 2021 by the Notaries and Registry Inspectorate to own the magnificent property.It aims to achieve 75,552 million pesos in this transaction.
The process wouldn’t make any particular sense if it weren’t for the fact that the entity selling the process is paradoxically one of the biggest raisers: around 1.2 billion pesos. For registration, certification and copies of titles, transactions and documents at notaries and 195 public intermediary institutions across the country.
Moreover, In the midst of a political control debate – last August – current Notary Inspector Fernanda García was explicitly asked not to sell ‘lots of diamonds’. until the budgetary issues presented by this organization are clarified.
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“If there is no budget clarity, Don’t sell that real estate on the 26th, let’s solve the structural problem first; I’m telling you because that money will go down the siphons. Do not sell real estate, let’s look for the sources of the budget; Time to review percentages”, assured the representative of Risaralda Gabriel Vallejo (Democratic Centre).
And so he affirmed to EL TIEMPO: “Selling that land before the government changes is disrespectful and courteous. And I believe that neither this nor the new government should sell such a valuable asset.”.
Y Dehiby Villamizar, president of the National Union of Notary Workers (Sintranor), agrees with the congressman.
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And it adds he doesn’t understand why the two previous inspectors (Jairo Mesa and Jorge Vélez) want to sell the megalot he designed as the grand center of the assetthrough a public-private partnership (PPP).
Actually, they succeeded in submitting it to the prosecution and the judiciary to expand and consolidate the offices. But the project never got off the ground..
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In every situation, The union head says that while the party remains inactive, its officials in Bogota are literally scattered across three buildings: the headquarters, on Calle 26 on Carrera 7th; another in the Teusaquillo neighborhood and another rented at the San Martín shopping center last January. 1,200 million pesos are paid over 10 months.
EL TIEMPO found that in December 2021 an attempt was made to change the ownership of the ‘diamond party’..
According to the scriptures, It fell into the hands of the Central Mortgage Bank, which disappeared in 1987, and was bought four years later by the Notaries Inspectorate for 1.068 million pesos at that time..
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But, A new call was due in mid-December. Reason: real estate indicated that the interested party did not appear. In addition, if someone wants to bid this time, they will have to deposit 20 percent of the value, not 30 percent (as originally requested): 15,110 million pesos.
In the political control debate in August, the current investigator stated that the party should sell the party due to serious budgetary problems..
“It is very difficult to deal with infrastructure problems with 28 percent of the remaining total collection. What does a business do when it has no revenue? sell what you have (…). I contacted Central de Inversiones (Cisa) to see if a buyout offer could be made to generate this revenue on properties owned by the inspectorate nationwide (including the ‘diamond lot’). In order to invest in 195 offices,” he explained.
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And so, he confirmed this in dialogue with EL TIEMPO and also warned: If this property is sold, the money will be released to the new Petro administration. And it announced that a down payment of 1,880 million pesos was paid for this still-existing asset. Also, no interested parties have come forward so far.
The budget issues cited by the official, union, and Congressman Vallejo refer to the fact that Super is required by law to transfer 72 percent of its income to various Government agencies.Including the Department of Justice, Uspec, the Judicial Branch and the criminal justice system for adolescents.
The union claims These transfers are irregular as there are fee collections that must be reinvested in the operation of the business. and has not been transferred to other organizations as is.
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Moreover, The Treasury Department itself told them that authorizing and increasing these percentages was an initiative of Congress, not theirs. And this portfolio did not do any financial feasibility studies of Super with the rest.
Add to this that if you integrate the money from the sale of the ‘diamond lot’ into the budget, it is not certain that they will be able to implement it.. And for some, it would be better if the new government decided their fate.
He called the real estate company EL TIEMPO and pointed out that there was still time to submit the offers..
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Moreover, This property has other properties for sale, including two colonial homes in Cartagena and Santa Marta..
Notary inspector Fernanda García began by stating that it was not true that she had been selling the land since December and not at the last minute. And he said this was because the business had serious financial problems: “It only holds 28% of what it collects. And the lot generates property tax of 1,886 million pesos a year, it is not exploited and there is a rule that Cisa will take it if we don’t use it”.
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He told Congress that the asset had been in bad shape for 10 years, so they approved to remove it. Regarding the halting of the sale due to a change of government, he said: “Why? The government did not finish it, when I wanted to buy Cisa, I started selling. The business has many needs due to the corruption of land theftThis is what the trade unionists do not show”.
And added if it is sold, the money is run by the new management. He warned that the figures and budgets were given at the intersection, and that 112 infrastructure works remained in operation despite the budget..
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Source: Exame
