By Jenniffer
B. Austria | Posted on Feb. 21, 2013 at 12:02am
[
manilastandardtoday.com ]
The big
launch. President Aquino and Megaworld chairman Andrew Tan view a scale model
of The Mactan Newtown, the P20-billion township project of Megaworld
inaugurated Tuesday in Lapu Lapu City, Cebu. Aquino’s Cebu visit coincided with
his Team Pnoy’s campaign sorties starting from Cebu on Tuesday to Iloilo on
Thursday. For his part, Tan said during the inauguration that the township’s
BPO sector was expected to generate 25,000 jobs for Cebu in the next five to
seven years.
Condominium
builder Megaworld Corp. said Wednesday it is doubling its investments in a
16-hectare township project in Mactan, Cebu to P20 billion to transform the
property into a mixed-use development.
“In the next
seven years, we are investing P20 billion in this township to build luxury
residential condominiums, office towers, a world-class lifestyle mall, our very
own Richmonde Hotel and soon a sports and leisure facility,” Megaworld chairman
and chief executive Andrew Tan said in a statement.
Tan issued the
statement during the project’s formal inauguration attended by President
Benigno Aquino Ill.
Megaworld
last year launched two residential condominiums, which have been sold out
mostly to Japanese retirees. A new residential cluster is scheduled to be
launched this year.
The property
company also completed the construction of a five-story office building that
will house two business process outsourcing companies, EnfraUSA and Results
Manila.
“We have
fully leased out One World Center, so we will be starting the construction of
our second BPO tower, Two World Center, this year. It will accommodate an
additional 2,000 workers. We hope to have it ready by first quarter of next
year as several big BPO companies are already lining up to lease,” said Jericho
Go, first vice president for business development and leasing group of
Megaworld.
More office
spaces over the next two to three years will be available for lease with the
construction of two office towers that could accommodate around 13,000 BPO
seats.
“We see the
Mactan Newtown as a major driver of growth for Lapu Lapu City and Cebu in
general in terms of job opportunities, sports and recreation, retail shopping
and of course, tourism,” Tan said.
Megaworld
currently has big projects in Metro Manila. These are Eastwood City in Libis,
McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio, Newport City in Villamor Airbase, Cityplace in
Chinatown, Forbes Towncenter also in Fort Bonifacio, and Manhattan City Garden
in Cubao.
Megaworld
earlier said it would spend P35 billion this year and launch 10 residential
projects during the first half of the year.
Megaworld
booked P63.5 billion in reservation sales last year, which was equivalent to
550,000 square meters of saleable area. The 2012 reservation sales figure was
71 percent higher compared to a year ago.
The real
estate reservation sales came from the three brands, including Megaworld,
Empire East Land and Suntrust. Each of the brands caters to specific markets
ranging from the luxury to middle income to affordable segments.
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