A bid by a secretive local business consortium to build a hotel, luxury apartments and a small shopping centre on the East London beachfront is expected to be rubber-stamped by council today.

The bid, by a group called the Nepad Development Consortium, was one of six submitted in January to Buffalo City Municipality to develop the open land below East London's Holiday Inn.

BCM had offered to sell the land, 31000m² at Marina Glen for over R1000/m². The total price was R34,5 million.

Sources close to the consortium said the total of the proposed investment would be over R600 million.

The group is a private venture not linked to President Thabo Mbeki's New Partnership for African Development.

Members of the consortium include the South African high commissioner to Greece, Mandisa Marasha, a correspondent for the London Independent, Basildon Peta, and local business people.

The members refused to disclose any details of the consortium or its plans.

Strong competition came from two other parties, Crolabu Joint Venture, a consortium set up specifically for this deal, and Izingwe Properties, an established property investment company based in Port Elizabeth.

A seven-member panel of judges is now expected to identify the successful bidder, ending months of silence.There was only one hiccup in the secretive process.

A confidential report on the bidding process that revealed the recommended bidder was published by mistake in BCM?s council agenda two weeks ago.

The report was withdrawn immediately.

Municipal manager Gaster Sharpley said this was because the council was asked in the report to approve the preferred bidder; it should have asked for approval of the nature of the proposal.

A special council meeting has been tabled for this afternoon to consider a fresh report on the proposal. A public announcement would be made shortly afterwards, he said.

This would be the first news of the process the bidders have received since submitting their plans five months ago.

Representatives of two leading groups said they had heard nothing from the agency managing the tender adjudication, the Buffalo City Development Agency (BCDA).

Its boss, Siphiwo Mdila, confirmed that an announcement was imminent.

All parties were cagey about the details of their plans yesterday.

"We believe it is a bad omen to hatch any plans before the time is right," said Nhlanganiso Dladla, a spokesperson for the leading group, Nepad Development Consortium.

An official announcement on the preferred bidder did not mean that their plan would go ahead, warned a rival, Phil Goduka of Izingwe.

"It is not always easy to make R34,5 million available in a month, you are in the race until someone pays up."

The site is viewed as a corner of a "golden triangle" where local officials hope to foster development in East London.

Sharpley, a former BCDA boss, coined the title for the triangle of land between Marina Glen, Signal Hill near the harbour and the central business district.

Sharpley believes that developing the beachfront is the first step in the city's bid for R5 billion from national government to upgrade its port.

The successful sale and development of Marina Glen would pave the way for similar projects. "The bidders have all acted in good faith and we have enjoyed this process," he said.

A second property at Seaview Terrace was also put out to tender but none of the bids received were accepted, according to sources close to BCDA.

Council is seeking legal opinion on appropriate limits for a development on a third site, Court Crescent, on the Esplanade.

Daily Dispatch