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By Katrina Mennen A. Valdez Reporter
AYALA Land Inc. (ALI) will spend
about P3 billion for the development of mixed-use facilities inside
the Camp John Hay.
In a disclosure to the Philippine
Stock Exchange, ALI said it has entered into a land lease agreement
with Camp John Hay Development Corp. for a 120, 636-square meter
property within the John Hay Special Economic Zone.
The Ayala company said the
initial cost for the development of retail shops and business
process outsourcing (BPO) office space will run to P3 billion.
Based on plans, the development
will have about 40,000 square meters of BPO office space and support
facilities, and about 7,000 square meters of retail space.
Camp John Hay has 246.9 hectares,
with approximately 20 percent of the leased area occupied by a golf
course. Only about 22 hectares or nine percent has been reserved for
development. The remaining areas will be maintained as managed
forests, making the camp an ideal ecotourism destination for both
local and foreign travelers.
The real-estate arm of the Ayala
group is aggressively pursuing the BPO office market as demand for
office space has gone up in the last few years. At present, the
combined gross leasable aarea of its BPO building along De la Rosa
Street in Makati and the HSBC building in Fort Bonifacio runs to
36,000 square meters.
Marivic Añonuevo, who is in
charge of the company’s office buildings development, said ALI is
eyeing to double its leasable area this year.
Baguio City is already running
out of space for investors, with the government eyeing to convert
the runway of Loakan Airport into an extension of the fully occupied
Baguio City Economic Zone.
However, existing locators and
residents of Baguio City are against on the proposal since they
stand to lose their airport, which operates flights three times a
week.
Trade Secretary Peter Favila
earlier said that converting the runway into an ecozone would
attract hundred millions of dollars of investments to Baguio City.
The government has offered the
San Fernando International Airport inside the Poro Point Freeport
Zone in La Union as an alternative. But existing locators have
bucked the proposal, citing difficult land travel.
Favila said some Korean and
Japanese businessmen are keen on putting up their facilities inside
the Loakan Airport, while existing investors in the Baguio City
Economic Zone led by American chipmaker Texas Instruments are
interested in expanding to the airport once converted into an
ecozone.
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