CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña returns to work after nearly two months of absence with a major announcement of P3.7 billion worth of development deals in the South Road Properties (SRP).

The mayor said they are about to close three outright deals with investors like SM Prime Holdings, Bigfoot Entertainment and a Korean group in the SRP.

?SM is buying 30 hectares at almost P2.7 billion. They want to build a big convention center at no cost to the city,? he said.

Bigfoot, the first company which leases a two hectare property in the SRP for 25 years will buy an additional 4.6 hectares for apartments intended for tourists.

The arrangement is similar to the Universal Studios in the US.

?(Bigfoot will be) across Filinvest Land Inc. (property) beside the University of the Philippines (back) and South Coastal Road (front). (They) will build immediately the rental apartments,? Osmeña said.

Bigfoot Entertainment, a film production company, is the parent firm of Bigfoot Production Services, International Academy of Film and Television, Bigfoot Partners and Bigfoot Soundworks.

The Korean group intends to buy a five hectare property in the SRP intended for a proposed hotel-casino, Osmeña added.

The city offered a selling price of P11,000 per square meter for properties along the road and P8,000 per square meter for the interior portions.

This is the same price being offered to the two other investors, Osmeña said.

He said all these deals are expected to be closed before the year ends via a Swiss Challenge as cleared by the Commission on Audit (COA).

The terms of payment for the three investors is similar to the city's arrangement with Filinvest.

The property will be payable for six years and investors will settle a downpayment of 25 percent of the total purchase price.

With the money expected to come in, Osmeña said he will have to talk to barangay officials on how to spend the money before the election period.

?It's a strange kind of problem: how to spend about a billion pesos before elections. Big problem,? Osmeña told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

Osmeña said a portion of the money may be used to fund part of the city's drainage master plan starting with the construction of the mini-dams in the upland area.

The mayor filed a one-month sick leave for his checkup in the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Osmeña filed another leave of absence to avoid being accused of influence-peddling after his son Miguel was accused of threatening the female friend of his girlfriend.

The nearly two-month leave gave the mayor a chance to visit the different barangays in the city and finalize the negotiations with investors interested in the SRP.