Posted on April 11, 2012 10:20:30 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DEVELOPER ORTIGAS & Co. is looking to spend P200 million to build a steel bridge linking its residential project in Libis, Quezon City to Pasig City in a bid to decongest traffic.
Ortigas is set to build the Circulo Verde Bridge -- which will have a minimum capacity of 840 vehicles -- to connect the 12-hectare development’s perimeter road near Calle Industria to Amang Rodriguez Ave., Joselito F. Santos, Ortigas real estate division general manager said in a briefing yesterday.
The 137-meter suspension bridge is expected to slash traffic volume in those areas by as much as 60%, he added.
“The object of the bridge is to mitigate traffic in nearby barangays and provide alternative routes to private vehicles going to Amang Rodriguez and parts of Ortigas Ave. Extension,” a statement released yesterday read.
This, as an Ortigas-commissioned study showed that an average of 1,800 vehicles pass by Calle Industria to Amang Rodriguez Ave. every morning, while an average of 1,500 vehicles pass by in the afternoon.
The bridge’s construction will commence in June, with a completion date slated for June 2013.
Last December, Ortigas similarly announced that it will be aiding the Pasig City government in widening part of Meralco Ave., which passes by the side of its 10-hectare, mixed-use Capitol Commons development in the Kapitolyo area.
The widened road is expected to open in the second quarter.
In a related development, the master development plan for Circulo Verde has been recently enhanced to further elevate the development’s 15 towers, and include a 1.4-hectare central park and stand-alone retail center, to be composed of stores previously allocated at the lower levels of the development’s 15 towers.
“We will have a new retail village for our residents’ convenience. It will have 10,000 square meters of retail space, housing various shops and stores,” Mr. Santos said, adding that one of the location’s anchors may include homegrown Rustan’s Supercenters, Inc.
The property developer also said it performed robustly last year in terms of top-line figures.
“Our revenues grew by double-digits last year, and we expect to do the same again this year,” Mr. Santos said, declining to cite specifics.
Moreover, Ortigas is confident that it will still continue to pursue its earlier-announced initial public offering in the year’s second semester, with CLSA remaining as transaction adviser, Mr. Santos added.
However, he declined to comment on the Sy-led SM Group’s ongoing buy-in plans into Ortigas.
Ortigas, the firm behind the Greenhills, Valle Verde and Greenmeadows residential subdivisions as well as the 16-hectare Greenhills Shopping Center, traces its roots to the 1920s when the Augustinian Fathers sold 4,033 hectares of land in what is mostly present-day Mandaluyong City to Francisco Ortigas. -- F. J. G. de la Fuente
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