VIP suite of Nauru Bldg. to be converted into a call center

Businessman Erick Van Der Maas wants to convert the 7th floor of the Nauru Building in Susupe into a call center.

The entire 7th floor was never rented out ever since the building’s construction in the mid ‘70s because it was reserved for VIPs of the Republic of Nauru.

The floor consists of a well-designed residential suite and a spacious conference room.

The residential area is fully equipped—with an elegant living room, the masters bedroom, which has an awesome view of the ocean, a personal assistant’s bedroom, and two other smaller rooms

The 7th floor suite has its own kitchen and dining room area.

Van Der Maas said it would be great to preserve all the existing amenities but it is the only unoccupied place in the building that can accommodate his proposed call center business.

Leased or rented offices occupy the 6th floor to the ground floor.

Van Der Maas said his takeover of the building would not result in the displacement of these offices.

He and his Los Angeles business associate, Hans Smit, aim to put up a $2-million call center business on Saipan, beginning in December this year.

To do this, the team submitted an application for qualifying certificate for a 10-year tax relief with the Commonwealth Development Authority.

In its proposal, the business group projects a cash flow of $98 million over 10 years.

The business, called We Manage Calls Inc., aims to employ up to 200 people, 80 to 90 percent of whom are local or U.S. residents.

Based on the plan, it will begin the operations with 30 people in December this year.

The number will increase to 50 by June 2006 and 100 by end of next year.

By middle of 2007, it hopes to have employed 150 staff.

Beginning 2008, its workforce would increase to 200 or more.

Over 10 years, it said that there would be $21.4 million in accumulated payroll and total employee income tax benefits to the CNMI amount to some $900,000.

Van Der Maas said that the business would also result in $1.5 million extra revenue for the telecommunication company and $600,000 in extra income to the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Under its QC application, the company wants to receive exemption from the excise tax in the first three years, an exemption from the Business Gross Receipt Tax for five years, and a 10-year exemption from corporate tax.

Van Der Maas described the proposal as “very reasonable because everybody seems to be asking for 25 years.”

The Commonwealth Development Authority administers the government’s qualifying certificate program which grants various tax incentives of up to 100 percent in tax rebates for 25 years to investors who build, expand, and operate commercial projects in the CNMI.

A call center business refers to reservation centers, help desks, information lines or customer service centers.

We Manage Calls, according to Van Der Maas, is an inbound call center, which means that it answers incoming calls from customers for order placement, selling, and related customer services.

Aside from the call center, Van Der Maas also plans to restore the building’s famous revolving restaurant, which stopped operations several years ago.

The restaurant occupies the top floor of the building.

Van Der Maas said he is still looking for the right business partner to finalize the plan for the restaurant.

He wants to call the restaurant Sky Café, which he said would be a top-caliber place, offering international cuisine.

The restaurant still rotates even now.

He said it makes a full rotation in one hour, giving an exciting chance to diners to view Saipan from all angles.

“The rotation is very gentle. You won’t even feel it but you know it’s moving because your view changes. If you are facing the library at the start of your meal, you’d later see that you’re fronting Lake Susupe already. It would be enjoyable,” he said.

He said the restaurant requires a new kitchen and its ceiling needs repainting.

The restaurant area is about 4,200 square feet.

He said he would also develop a beer garden adjacent to it and enclose it with a fence to comply with the required OSHA standards.

He said another plan is to set up an observatory on top of the restaurant.

“We’ve got all these plans set out. Hopefully, we’d see concrete changes here after six months,” he said.

He said the entire building would be repainted, renovated, and renamed Marianas Business Plaza.

The building was built for the king of Nauru in the early ‘70s.

It has been under different custody or ownership ever since.

In recent years, it was placed under a receivership.

Van Der Maas, who has been on Saipan for five years, said he got interested in the building only in January this year.

After months of “difficult and complicated” negotiations, he finally took over the ownership of the building in August this year.

Van Der Maas was initially represented in the negotiations by lawyer Steve Nutting.

He closed the deal in late July this year with lawyer Sean Frink.

The businessman said he did not deal with the Nauru government but with several legal groups representing interests in the property.

He did not disclose the amount involved in the purchase.

He said he paid it to a trust account since it was under a receivership.

When asked how much would it cost to build the building, he said it would amount to $17 million “if you have to rebuild it now.”

He then said that his acquisition payment “is way below” $17 million.

Van Der Maas said he had looked at acquiring La Fiesta complex in San Roque for the call center project, but decided later to focus on Nauru Building due to its “strategic location.”

Besides the government had already acquired La Fiesta initially for Northern Marianas College’s aborted Pacific Gateway.

It now houses the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Authorities earlier said that La Fiesta complex’ cost about $35 million to $50 million.

The government acquired it in 2003 for $7.5 million.