Posted on September 04, 2013 10:23:53
PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THE PUBLISHER of Forbes magazine and
forbes.com has chosen the Philippines as the site for its foray into property
development, underscoring growing interest in the country often tagged as
Asia’s newest “bright spot.”
Forbes Media LLC has partnered with locally listed developer Century
Properties Group, Inc. to build the first Forbes Media Tower in Makati City,
both companies said in joint statement yesterday.
The first Forbes-branded tower, which
will rise in a mixed-use development called “Century City,” is expected to be
part of “a network of Forbes Media Towers around the world,” the statement
read.
Construction could begin next year and
finish in 2017, according to Century Properties’ corporate communications
department.
Forbes Media Tower will have
approximately 60,000 square meters of premium office space, featuring event
space, restaurants, fitness center and exhibition facilities. Project details
were not immediately available.
The statement quoted Mike Perlis,
president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Forbes Media, as describing the
Philippines as a “perfect location” for this foray.
“We’re very pleased to be
collaborating with Century Properties for the first Forbes Media Tower as we
extend our brand into the global real estate development market,” Mr. Perlis
said.
“The Philippines, with its rapidly
growing market and strong relations with the US, is the perfect location to
launch this effort.”
Another Forbes official said the tower
kick-starts Forbes Media’s expansion into the real estate space.
“This is a historic and groundbreaking
moment for us. It is just the start of our plan for an expansion into Forbes
real estate development projects around the world,” said Miguel Forbes,
president of Worldwide Development of Forbes Media, who is spearheading this
initiative.
“We will continue to explore new
Forbes Media Tower opportunities globally and couldn’t be more excited to
pursue this new and potentially transformative initiative.”
The same statement quoted Century
Properties CEO Jose E. B. Antonio as saying: “It is also an honor for us that
Forbes has recognized the Philippines as one of Asia’s bright spots and showed
its confidence by choosing Makati, Metro Manila as the first site of its
landmark business tower.”
Century Properties is known for its
partnership with international brands and icons.
The company is building a 56-storey
Trump Tower Manila in Century City, which is scheduled for turnover in 2016.
It had also tapped socialite Paris
Hilton to “design” the beach club component of the nine-building Azure Urban
Resorts Residences in Parañaque City, for which turnover will start before
yearend.
Century Properties’ net income grew
6.57% to P1.06 billion in the first half from P944.5 million in the same six
months last year. Revenues climbed 7.09% to P5.29 billion from P4.94 billion,
while cost and expenses increased by 4.11% to P3.80 billion from P3.65 billion.
Its shares gained 12 centavos or 9.76%
to close P1.35 apiece yesterday from a finish of P1.23 each last Tuesday. --
Cliff Harvey C. Venzon
______________________________________________________________
