[ Manila Bulletin Online ] February 25, 2009
By JAMES A. LOYOLA
Fort Bonifacio Development Corporation is spending about P6 billion for the development of a new section of the Bonifacio Global City as the previously developed portion is fast filling up with ongoing and proposed projects.
In a press briefing yesterday, FBDC commercial operations head Noel Kintanar said the amount will be used for the horizontal development of the City Center as well as a P1 billion Mind Museum.
Kintanar said there are currently 136 vertical development projects in the Global City of which 72 have been completed while 41 are under construction and 23 have already been proposed but have yet to break ground.
The projects include residential and office buildings, retail and entertainment outlets, and institutions. In terms of gross floor area, the bulk of the completed projects are residential condominiums followed by retail and entertainment establishments and office buildings.
All these are located in 36 hectares of prime property at the heart of Bonifacio Global City. This area is highlighted by the Bonifacio High Street and had only two available lots for sale at a cost of about P600 million assuming lot sizes of 2,000 square meters and average selling price of P150,000 per square meter.
FBDC is now planning to develop City Center North-East Side at a cost of P4 billion to P5 billion. The area will be primed as a center for "Play" under its value proposition of Live-Work-Play.
Kintanar said lots in this area will be sold or leased out over the next five years. FBDC has earmarked 16 lots of prime property adjacent to City Center for mixed use development.
Comprising almost 3.5 hectares, the lots for sale are expected to fetch about P4.7 billion assuming an average rate of P150,000 per square meter. FBDC has so far sold one lot while another lot has been reserved.
Meanwhile, FBDC has already raised P753 million, including donations, for the P1 billion Mind Museum which will be the first state-of-the-art interactive science museum in the country. Groundbreaking has been slated for October 2009 and expects to open to the public by the first quarter of 2011.
FBDC is also spending P300 million for the construction of the 29-storey Bonifacio E-Services Building which is expected to be completed in April 2010. Kintanar noted that the BPO market remains stronger as Bonifacio Global City remains one of the most preferred sites for BPO offices.
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