IMELDA MARCOS, who moved in to The Fort only a year ago, may have to find a new home soon.

Her 670-square meter, six-bedroom penthouse unit with a 400-sq. m. garden and a helipad at One McKinley Place has just been advertised for sale.

According to the grapevine, the former First Lady had a change of heart and decided to no longer push through with the acquisition of the expansive penthouse, ironically owned by Jose Concepcion III of Selecta and RFM fame.

(This is not the first time that the Concepcions have gone over their political differences with the Marcos camp because of a real estate deal. Right after Edsa I, Joey?s father, Jose Concepcion Jr., purchased an Urdaneta Village house from Marcos press secretary JV Cruz.)

According to the grapevine, the funding for the purchase was supposed to have been provided by Mrs. Marcos? elder sister, the very low-key Conchita Yap, after the initial payment of a deposit that allowed the former First Lady to move into the penthouse.

Another account says the penthouse was actually rented by Mrs. Marcos? younger brother, former Leyte governor Benjamin Romualdez, as a retirement nest for his sister, who is turning 80 on July 2.

Before she moved to One McKinley, Mrs. Marcos was for the longest time staying at Ayala Avenue?s Pacific Plaza in the unit said to be owned and provided for by Sonia Mathay, the first wife of former Metro Manila Vice Gov. Ismael Mathay Jr.

Before One McKinley, Mrs. Marcos was also seriously considering to make her home the two adjoining penthouse units in The Fort?s Pacific Plaza Towers, which would have given her a whopping 1,200 sq. m. of living space, had not her son-in-law and investment adviser Gregorio Araneta III, according to the pro-Marcos chatter, put his foot down.

Money-go-round

? Macquarie dealmaker Stephen CuUnjieng has just scored the equivalent of a financial trifecta.

The just-concluded $414-million sale of the Meralco bloc to the PLDT Group was the third merger-and-acquisition advisory awarded by the Lopezes to CuUnjieng within the last six months.

The two previous deals were the $280-million divestment from the Manila North Tollways Corp. and the $120-million sale of the 60-percent First Gen equity in Pantabangan-Masiway power plant to Energy Development Corp.

? Oops! Contrary to last Friday?s item, Bingo Bonanza?s Albee Benitez is actually the son of the late Betty Bantug, and Joanne de Asis-Benitez is actually his stepmother.

Heard through the grapevine

Lucio Tan?s younger brother Mariano Tanenglian may no longer be holding office at the Allied Bank building, but he is still very much the treasurer of the Lucio Tan Group, according to his counsel Raymundo Quiroz.

Tanenglian, who now holds fort at Fortune Tobacco in Marikina City, laughed off rumors that he has gone on holiday and that he is contemplating to retire and take a less strenuous lifestyle by helping his wife?s real estate business.

?My client?s wife is not engaged and has never been engaged in the real estate business as she is a plain housewife,? Quiroz further clarified.

(Web site: www.cocktales.ph; e-mail: cocktales_mst@pldtdsl.net)