Posted on March 13, 2012 10:02:20 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) plans to begin construction on an entertainment complex at the site of Sta. Ana racetrack in Makati City by the third quarter in a bid to complete work by 2013, an official said last week.
“We are on track for the Sta. Ana project and we will start on it this year, hopefully by the third quarter. It’s a mixed-use development, but we are positioning it to be a new entertainment district for Makati,” Anna Bautista-Dy, vice-president for strategic land bank management, told BusinessWorld in a chance interview.
Ayala Land had previously inked a joint-venture agreement with horse racing operator Philippine Racing Club, Inc. last year to develop the latter’s 21-hectare property.
The Sta. Ana Racetrack was once used for horse racing events beginning in the 1930s until 2009, when the Philippine Racing Club transferred to a new 65-hectare racecourse in Naic, Cavite, according to the Philippine Racing Club’s Web site.
While declining to divulge details, Ms. Bautista-Dy said that the Sta. Ana project will be slightly more upscale than Ayala Land’s current Bonifacio High Street retail development in Taguig City.
“It will be like a cultural district... It will really be focused on entertainment,” Ms. Bautista-Dy said, noting that target tenants include those involved in music and the performing arts.
Ayala Land has allotted a record P37 billion in capital expenditures this year to fund new projects, as well as for the acquisition of new properties.
The company hiked its net income for 2011 to a record P7.14 billion versus P5.46 billion it generated in 2010.
Ayala Land shares fell by 1.67% to P20.65 yesterday from P21.00 at its previous close. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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