Posted on January 10, 2016
08:25:00 PM [ bworldonline.com]
By Victor V. Saulon
THE Bases Conversion and
Development Authority (BCDA) on Friday inked a joint venture deal with
Gotianun-led Filinvest Land, Inc. to develop a 288-hectare land within the
envisioned “Green City” at the Clark Special Economic Zone in Tarlac province.
Arnel Paciano D. Casanova,
BCDA president and chief executive officer, said the state-owned entity would
receive P160 million from Filinvest Land for the right to develop the property.
The partnership was signed
by Mr. Casanova and Filinvest Land President and Chief Executive Officer
Josephine Gotianun-Yap at the BCDA Corporate Center in Taguig City on Jan 8.
The joint venture agreement
calls for the creation of a company that will be 55% owned by Filinvest Land
and 45% by BCDA, which handles the conversion of former military bases into
commercially sustainable development.
“We will develop the
property through the years and generate value just like what we did with
Bonifacio Global City (BGC),” said Mr. Casanova in a telephone interview
yesterday, referring to the now-booming financial district at the former Army
camp.
“We will be doing it
together,” he said, adding that the financing and marketing will be done by
Filinvest.
The agreement, which will
have a term of 50 years and renewable for another 50 years, is expected to
jump-start the development of Clark Green City into “the country’s first smart,
green and disaster-resilient metropolis.”
Last September, Filinvest
Land was the only company to submit a bid, amounting to P160 million, to become
BCDA’s joint venture partner in developing part of the 9,450-hectare Clark
Green City.
“As the pioneer developer
involved in Clark Green City, we are excited to be a catalyst of growth in such
a visionary endeavor. At the same time, this is also a prime opportunity for us
to expand our geographic footprint in Northern Luzon,” Filinvest’s Ms.
Gotianun-Yap said in a statement.
Mr. Casanova described the
joint venture as a landmark deal because “it is a start of a new city outside
Metro Manila.”
The project is as big as
BGC, even bigger than the Makati central business district and similar in size
to Filinvest City in Alabang, he said. Its market is expected to be the 12
million population of Central Luzon and the 85,000 workers in Clark.
“Once site development
begins, property values will increase and generate cash flow,” the BCDA chief
said, adding that project will be built on a “phased” basis to avoid flooding
the market with an oversupply of real estate products.
Ms. Gotianun-Yap said
Filinvest Land will soon be mapping out development plans for the property,
which will be divided into two components: an industrial zone, and a mixed-use
development with residential, office, commercial and institutional elements.
The comprehensive planning
for the project is expected to be done in the next nine months, with
development to start within the next two years.
Filinvest Land has had
experience in developing large master-planned township projects, such as the
244-hectare Filinvest City in Alabang and the P5-billion Filinvest Cyberzone
Cebu business process outsourcing complex.
The property company has
over 100 projects in 39 cities and municipalities nationwide.
At full development, the
BCDA expects Clark Green City to have around 1.12 million residents, 800,000
workers and contribute a gross output of approximately P1.57 trillion per year
to the national economy or roughly 4% share in the county’s gross domestic product.
Mr. Casanova said BCDA
would do its best to make the project “take off” but at the same time “open to
new innovative projects and new opportunities that will come our way that will
not compete directly” with the venture with Filinvest.
“We are welcome to other
developers,” he said, citing possible complementary projects such as industrial
zones that could bring in thousands of workers to the new metropolis.
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