Posted on March 16, 2015 10:10:00 PM
By Daphne J. Magturo, Reporter [ BusinessWorld Online ]
PROPERTY giant Ayala Land, Inc. is
investing P15 billion in the next five years -- and another P10 billion after
-- to transform an idle 11-hectare industrial estate located near one of Metro
Manila’s busiest loop roads into a mixed-use complex.
The P25-billion project will be called
Cloverleaf, faithful to the name of the interchange in Balintawak in Quezon
City that, when viewed from above, resembles a four-leaf clover.
Half of Metro Manila’s 12-million
population pass through that loop road, and Ayala Land is targeting “the large
Chinese population in the area,” Anna Ma. Margarita B. Dy, company
vice-president and head of Strategic Landbank Management Group, told a media
briefing at the UP Town Center.
Ayala Land, the country’s second
largest property developer by market capitalization, had been expanding its
land bank beyond upscale neighborhoods and business districts. It bought the
Balintawak property, which abuts on A. Bonifacio Avenue and Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue, in 2003.
That lot, formerly home to Central
Textile Mills, Inc. -- one of the largest textile manufacturers in the country
-- has been vacant since the 1980s, according to Ms. Dy.
The company official said the first
phase of the mixed-use development would entail a P15-billion investment over
the next five years.
That will house eight buildings,
including a two-hectare mall with 40,000 square meters (sq.m.) of gross
leasable space that will open in 2018, as well as a P1.8-billion QualiMed
Hospital with 250 beds, in partnership with Mercado General Hospital, Inc.
The first phase will also have two
residential towers under the Alveo brand that will be launched next month, as
well as three towers under the Avida brand to be sold in the third quarter.
Residents can move in by 2019.
Avida units will be sold at P110,000
per sq.m., varying from studio to up to three-bedroom units, Avida President
Christopher B. Maglanoc said yesterday. Details for the Alveo towers have yet
to be finalized.
Meanwhile, the remaining P10 billion
in the total budget will go to the second phase, with construction to commence
after five years. That phase will be composed of a total of seven buildings
with retail, residential and office components.
“Balintawak is the gateway to the
north, and right in this spot is where Ayala Land will plant its flag once
again,” Ms. Dy said.
Ayala Land shares lost 45 centavos, or
1.20%, to close at P37 each yesterday.
_________________________________________________________________
