By Neil
Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 5, 2013 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - The property arm of the Ayala conglomerate is turning its sights
north of Metro Manila for several new mixed-use and masterplanned communities.
Township
developments in Pampanga and Bulacan will give Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) an avenue
for long-term growth, an executive said.
“We’re now
setting our sights towards the northern part (of Luzon),” ALI chief finance
officer Jaime Ysmael told reporters.
“The bias for
development has always been in the south. But we also realized that the north
has a lot of potential given the high income levels, the presence of industrial
activity there and with the improvement of access,” Ysmael said.
Ysmael said
ease of access through the 84-kilometer (km) North Luzon Expressway and 94-km
Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway provides development opportunities north of Metro
Manila.
For instance,
ALI recently launched the Altaraza complex, a residential and commercial
development in Bulacan.
“We will
start small but it has a good potential of becoming a good northern play,”
Ysmael said, adding that the company will start with the development of around
100 hectares of Altaraza.
The first few
developments in the complex will be horizontal projects by affordable housing
unit Avida Land, which will be followed by office and shopping malls, Ysmael
said.
Aside from
Bulacan, ALI is also expanding in Pampanga.
In
particular, ALI has acquired a few hundred hectares of property in Porac,
Pampanga that will be launched soon, Ysmael said.
The
integrated, mixed-use developments in Bulacan and Pampanga will be developed in
the next five to 10 years, Ysmael said.
Prior to the
projects north of Metro Manila, ALI focused on developments in the Southern
Luzon.
ALI is the company
behind the 1,860-hectare sustainable, eco-friendly Nuvali community in Laguna.
Ysmael said
ALI focused on Southern Luzon given existing infrastructure and it is less
prone to flooding compared with the northern plains.
Moving
forward, ALI is also looking into large developments in Cavite, Batangas, Cebu,
Iloilo, Davao and Cagayan de Oro, Ysmael said.
Existing
mixed-use projects of ALI include the 74-hectare Arca South (formerly Food
Terminal Inc.) in Taguig, the 45-hectare Vertis North in Quezon City and the
21-hectare Circuit Makati (formerly the Sta. Ana racetrack).
The property
giant earmarked P65.5 billion this year for the completion of ongoing
developments and launch of 69 new projects with a combined value of P129
billion.
Last year,
ALI and its units spent a record P71 billion for project and capital
expenditures as it launched 67 new projects last year worth P110 billion.
The property
arm of the Ayala conglomerate is wrapping up its 5-10-15 program, which was launched
in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. It is a five-year plan ending in 2014
that aims to boost net income to P10 billion and return on equity to 15
percent.
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