Posted on July 05, 2012 10:31:12 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
AYALA LAND, Inc. yesterday broke
ground on the first phase of its P65-billion, mixed-use development in Quezon
City’s (QC) North Triangle area as reportedly over half of the informal
settlers occupying the site have already been relocated.
Vertis North, a joint-venture project
inked by Ayala Land with the National Housing Authority (NHA) in 2009, will
feature office, retail, hotel, and residential developments on a 29-hectare
property fronting EDSA near the TriNoma mall.
“Makati [City] is known to be the
‘national’ business district. But if you look at it, QC is the country’s
largest city,” Antonino T. Aquino, Ayala Land president and chief executive
said at yesterday’s briefing.
Vertis North is seen to form part of
the 250-hectare Triangle Park, the city’s future central business district
bordered by North and East Avenues and EDSA.
The property, officially classified as
idle government land, has recently been the site of encounters -- sometimes
bloody -- between the government and the informal settlers seeking to protect
their homes from demolition.
“Half of the area [for Vertis North]
is already clear, and the deadline we have for clearing is September this
year,” said Chito M. Cruz, NHA general manager, in a press briefing yesterday.
“Of about 10,000 families there, we’ve
already relocated roughly 6,500 to various sites in San Jose del Monte,
[Bulacan], and Rodriguez, [Rizal],” he added.
The NHA, which holds a 27% stake in
the joint venture, expects to earn around P12 billion in revenues from the
project, which will then go to further housing investments for the estimated
104,000 families living in so-called danger areas nationwide, Mr. Cruz said.
The first phase of Vertis North,
estimated to cost P12 billion will feature business process outsourcing
offices, retail spaces and Ayala Land’s own Kukun hotel brand on a
seven-hectare portion of the property, Mr. Aquino said.
Upon its completion within the next
three to four years, Vertis North’s 45-tower first phase will boast of a gross
floor area of 220,000 square meters.
Vertis North joins Ayala Land’s other
developments in the city such as the University of the Philippines-Ayala
TechnoHub, TriNoma, and residential projects such as Ayala Heights.
Ayala Land shares declined by 0.22% to
P22.50 from P22.55 the day previous. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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