BACOLOD CITY – The Negros Occidental provincial government is preparing to lease out the old Provincial Jail property on Gatuslao St. here.

Provincial Administrator Enrique Pinongan the plan is open the area for rental at P75 per square meter per month.

Pinongan said the province is expected to earn P750,000 a month if the entire area is leased out.

The gate and entrance of the old Provincial Jail made of stone and bricks will be preserved because of its historical value. The jail was once a Spanish fort constructed more than 200 years ago.

Bacolod Capitol Hill Land Development Corp., operator of 888 Chinatown Square situated across the old jail, has proposed to lease the property to construct a three-storey structure estimated to cost P400 million.

The 888 China Town Square mall sits in a property that it also leases from the provincial government.

In 2008, Bacolod Capitol Hill Land Development Corp., composed of local Filipino-Chinese businessmen led by William Ong, leased the 1.2-hectare lot, previously the site of Negros Occidental Tennis Association courts.

The company then constructed the 888 China Town Square in the property which it rents from the province for P200,000 a month under a 35-year contract.*