Commonwealth Development Authority Executive Director Manuel Sablan confirmed to Variety that Fidel Mendiola Jr., the new owner of Sunset Villa, made a $15,000 payment last month.
“They fully paid the balance,” Sablan said.
Late last year, the CDA entertained two proposals for the said beachfront property on Rota: one for $220,000 and one for $250,000.
Mendiola made a $10,000 deposit on Dec. 24 and followed it up with a $230,000 payment in July. He also asked the CDA board if he could do a payment plan for the remaining $20,000 balance which was approved.
Subsequently, Mendiola paid $5,000 and handed over the final installment last month in the amount of $15,000.
Sunset Villa had been a CDA property since 2000 on account of unresolved loan defaults by its previous owner.
The beachfront property which was earlier appraised at $1.2 million, has since seen its value plummet.
There was a previous auction that leased the property to La Paloma which CDA required to pay $500,000 upfront and $3,000 every month for the next 42 years with CDA remaining as property owner. However, this negotiation didn’t prosper leaving the property under CDA until proposals were received by the agency last year.
