MEGAWORLD CORP. said it may accelerate the development of its Woodside City project in Pasig City, as many of its tenants in the nearby Eastwood City, the company’s first township project, clamor for an expansion of their respective operations.
Jericho Go, the company’s senior vice president, said the first of the two twin towers in the 12.3-hectare property is set for completion by 2016 or 2017, a year ahead of the original plan of between 2018 and 2019 opening.
“The good news is the tenants that we have here in Eastwood City are saying they need to grow further, and they are asking where we can grow. [So] we offered Woodside City, and they said perfect,” Go said, adding that the current plan will add some 30,000 square meters to 40,000 sq m of new office space.
“So, hopefully, even though we are still two to three years down the road, we might be able to sign up a client
already,” Go added.
Megaworld, controlled by billionaire Andrew Tan, is also expanding the 17-hectare Eastwood City by another 1.5 hectares.
Eastwood, in Libis, Quezon City, is just 3.2 kilometers away from Woodside City, where the former Ajinomoto factory on C-5 Road in Pasig City
was located.
“Now they’re saying finish Eastwood, and then let’s go there. But, even though they’re saying [there is] growth in Eastwood City, the clients are very interested in Woodside. Those are two geographical locations: this is Quezon City, that’s Pasig,” he said.
Go said the company is sitting on a cash hoard and has enough funds to bankroll the projects. As of the first half of the year, Megaworld has cash and cash equivalents of P28.58 billion.
Woodside City is the company’s ninth township development and Megaworld is spending some P35 billion on its development for the next 10 years.
The company is still in the development stage of the plan for the township, but its initial projects will consist of three high-rise office buildings that will have total floor area of 150,000 sq m.
The first tower, to be designed by American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, will be launched by early next year.
Initially, the three towers will house some 16,000 people from the business-process outsourcing sector, Go said.
The three initial office towers in Woodside City, coined after a community in the US, where Apple Inc.’s founder Steve Jobs once lived, will all be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-registered, Go said.
He also said Megaworld plans planting 1,000 trees around the development as part of the effort to market the project as environment-friendly.
Megaworld has eight existing township projects in its portfolio, including the 17-hectare Eastwood City; the 50-hectare McKinley Hill and the 5-hectare Forbes Town Center in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig; the 25-hectare Newport City in Pasay; the 28.8-hectare Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City; the 15.4-hectare Uptown Bonifacio, and the 34.5-hectare McKinley West, both in Fort Bonifacio.
Image credits: Jenzine Alcantara