By Dexter A. See | Posted on Nov. 03,
2012 at 12:01am
[ manilstandardtoday.com ]
Baguio City — The local government has
yielded to the clamor of the business sector led by developers to lift the ban
on high rise and allow 12-storey buildings to buttress the city’s stature as an
investment capital.
Lawyer Alexander Bangsoy, a member of
the Chamber of Real Estate Brokers Association in the Cordillera, commended the
move as timely.
“Baguio City is one of the favorite
destinations in the country,” he said,
noting that around 20 developers have lined up condominium and subdivision
projects because of the relaxed building height requirement.
Earlier, the brokers and the
Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Baguio-Benguet Chapter petitioned
Mayor Mauricio Domogan to revamp the six-storey limit to make Baguio most
business-friendly.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau
pegged the 12-storey threshold based on ground stability from data obtained in
geohazard surveys.
Dennis Sy, PCCI chapter president,
said vertical expansion would boost the economic growth potential of the
57-square kilometer city limits.
In Metro Manila, high-rise clusters have
mushroomed in central business districts in Libis, Quezon City, Taguig Global
City along with Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong and Pasig among other growth
hubs.
Developers took keen interest on the
rezoning along Edsa in Mandaluyong where Wack Wack residents wanted to impose
the four-storey limit incorporated in their subdivision plan.
“It is a good business decision
because more developers will be enticed to put up high-rise structures,” Sy
said.
Baguio authorities set a six-storey
limit after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on July 16, 1990 which devastated the
city and left more than 1,600 people dead mostly buried under the rubble.
The city has since rebounded to
attract businesses led by retail giant SM and its mall at the former site of
Pines Hotel together with Camp John Hay and its hive of locators in the former
American military rest and recreation facility.
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