|
By Likha C. Cuevas-Miel, Reporter
MEGAWORLD Corp. said it would
start developing its project in the Visayas next year to complete
its Philippine business process outsourcing (BPO) triangle.
On the sidelines of a
Citi-secOnline briefing, Kingson Sian, Megaworld senior vice
president and executive director, said the property firm is
finalizing its masterplan for the newly acquired 54-hectare Iloilo
property.
The aforementioned project,
together with the planned live-work-play development in Cebu and BPO
complexes in Metro Manila would comprise Megaworld’s BPO triangle,
which it intends to grow in the next few years.
At present, Megaworld is talking
to prospective locators in the Iloilo BPO hub, some of which would
require 75,000 square meters of office space for the next 3 to 4
years. Construction for the low-density BPO buildings with 3 to 6
levels and retail stores would start next year.
Megaworld’s initial investment
for the Iloilo project would reach P2.7 billion, P1.5 billion of
which would go to construction alone while the balance was already
paid to the government for the old airport site.
The property firm would also
spend about P2.5 billion in its project in Mactan, Cebu, which is
adjacent to the Shangri-la resort. About P1 billion of that amount
would go to construction, which would start late next year.
Sian said Megaworld is earmarking
about P12 billion for its capital expenditures next year for its
other six “mega” developments, including Eastwood City, McKinley
Hill, Newport City, Manhattan Garden City, Forbes Town Center and
Cityplace in Chinatown.
Eastwood City, the firm’s first
mixed-use development project in Libis, Quezon City, would have a
total 65,000 square meters of retail space next year while McKinley
Hill in Taguig City would contain 9,140 condominium units and 482
residential lots. Megaworld would also build 200,000 square meters
of office space while retail space would reach 78,500 square meters
in the succeeding years.
Newport City, where the new
5-star Marriott Hotel would rise, would have 16 residential clusters
comprising 2,500 units, 200,000 square meters of BPO office space
and 47,000 square meters devoted to leisure and entertainment.
For Cityplace in Chinatown,
Megaworld plans to build 5 residential high-rise towers with 2,000
units and 45,000 square meters of retail space. About 3 residential
towers housing 4,000 units would rise from Forbes Town Center in
Taguig City, while 20 residential towers with 9,000 units would make
up the Manhattan Garden City in Araneta Center, Cubao.
By the end of this year,
Mega-world expects revenues to grow 42 percent to P13.3 billion over
a year ago whereas profits would jump by 41 percent to P2.88
billion.
|
