By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated February 27, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Megaworld
Group of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan is set to develop a 561-hectare
integrated community south of Metro Manila estimated to cost P10 billion.
Southwoods City, located in parts of
Cavite and Laguna, will be the largest fully-integrated township development of
Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI), company officials said yesterday.
“The development is positioned to be
the next residential, business, commercial and leisure hub that is closest and
most accessible to Metro Manila,” GERI said.
“We are bringing the expertise of
Megaworld Corp. to this new township in the south. We look forward to a vibrant
mixed-use community that incorporates the live-work-play-learn lifestyle
concept in this multi-billion peso development,” said Megaworld first
vice-president Jericho Go.
Megaworld will take charge of the
design, conceptualization and masterplanning of Southwoods City. It will also
manage the office towers and commercial components of the township.
Of the 561-hectare property, 376
hectares were allotted for the residential segment, including the 26-hectare
residential village Pahara which consists of 602 available lots ranging from
239 to 523 square meters with views of the golf course and Laguna de Bay.
“Southwoods City will also feature a
central business district, commercial and retail hubs, malls, residential
condominiums, schools, a church, a cyberpark, a medical facility, open parks, leisure
facilities, a weekend market and its own transport hub,” said Mary Rachelle I.
Peñaflorida, vice-president of marketing arm Megaworld Global-Estate Inc.
The 125-hectare portion of the
township will be occupied by the Jack Nicklaus-designed Southwoods City Golf
and Country Club while the remaining 60 hectares were set aside for the
Southwoods Business Park.
Two office buildings offering 20,000
sqm of space for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms are already in the
advanced planning stages, Go said.
“We expect that once these buildings
are completed in two years, we should have an opportunity to hire 10,000-12,000
employees,” Go said, adding that the Carmona, Cavite and Biñan, Laguna area is
a good source of BPO workers.
GERI is the company behind tourism
estates such as the 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island; the
1,149-hectare rolling terrains of Twin Lakes in Tagaytay; and the 170-hectare
Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo City.
For its part, Megaworld is one of the
country’s top residential condominium developer and pioneer of townships
Eastwood City in Quezon City; Newport City in Pasay City; and McKinley Hill,
Uptown Bonifacio and Forbes Town Center in Bonifacio Global City. It is also
the top office landlord and developer in the Philippines with around 712,000
sqm of office space inventory.
GERI and Megaworld are part of Tan’s
Alliance Global Group Inc., which is also into liquor (Emperador Inc.) fastfood
(McDonald’s franchise operator Golden Arches Development Corp.) and hotels and
casino (Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.).
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