By David Cagahastian
RIZAL Avenue used to be the longest national road before the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, or Edsa, was opened. Named after the country’s national hero, Rizal Avenue was a vibrant economic center where people loved to shop and have fun.
The construction of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) three decades ago, coupled with the mushrooming of big department stores and malls in other parts of the metropolis, drove away Metro Manila shoppers from the area. While the exodus of Rizal Avenue’s clientele was not entirely due to the presence of the LRT, it may have contributed to its deterioration as it made some parts of the area dreary.
The tracks of the LRT covered Rizal Avenue, making its surroundings dark even during the day. This may have encouraged the proliferation of thugs and criminals in the area.
Despite the perception that Rizal Avenue has lost its old glory, residents in the area have fond memories of the area and refuse to let it go into oblivion. The fondness of long-time residents for the area, coupled with efforts of the government and the private sector to clean up Rizal Avenue, fuel hopes that the historical road could somehow recapture its lost glory.
Some of the old buildings on Rizal Avenue may give off the impression that properties in the area are no longer worth much. But figures from the City of Manila’s assessor showed that properties on Rizal Avenue command a price that is comparable to those in other business districts in Metro Manila.
Expensive lots
According to the City of Manila’s assessor, the properties on Rizal Avenue and adjacent areas are still owned by the old owners because they don’t really want to sell those prime properties.
Even for taxation purposes, the market values of properties in the area are still high and have appreciated through the years. These properties could fetch even higher prices in an actual sale since market values for taxation purposes are lower than the actual fair market values.
“But nobody really wants to sell these properties,” said Manila City Assessor Engr. Jose V. de Juan in an interview. “If you look at the area, the owners of the properties there are still the old owners.”
De Juan said the buildings may already be old, but the lots are still considered as prime properties, and have not depreciated in value, despite the gloom caused by the presence of the LRT in the area.
Market values have not gone down despite the bad reputation earned by Rizal Avenue. According to the latest Schedule of Base Unit Values for Residential, Commercial and Industrial Lands in the City of Manila, market values of lots in this area have kept pace with those of other areas in Metro Manila.
For instance, market values for purposes of computing real property tax of properties in the Carriedo area on Rizal Avenue is pegged at an average of P70,000 per square meter as of 2014. The average market value has gone up since 1979, when it was at P6,500 per square meter. Seventeen years later, the value would jump to P31,710 per square meter.
In the area adjacent to Ongpin Street in Santa Cruz, the market values are at P103,000 per square meter as of 2014. This is a steep climb from market values in 1979 (when it was only P3,100 per square meter).
In the historical area of Plaza Miranda, market values of properties in 2014 are at P103,000 per square meter. In 1979 the market values of properties in Plaza Miranda were only P6,000 per square meter. This went up to P9,700 per square meter in 1983, then to P41,710 per square meter in 1996.
Zonal values
Even in the zonal values used by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in computing capital gains tax due on lots sold in the Rizal Avenue area, the zonal values are even higher than those of lots in the area of Aurora Boulevard in Cubao, Quezon City.
Zonal values of commercial lots on Aurora Boulevard reached only a maximum of P50,000 per square meter as of May 2015, while zonal values of commercial lots in the Ongpin area in Santa Cruz reached a maximum of P91,410 per square meter.
These high zonal values for commercial lots in the Santa Cruz area already appear to rival the zonal value of commercial lots in the Forbes Park and Dasmariñas Village area (those along Edsa and McKinley Road) in Makati, which is pegged at P100,000 per square meter.
This is probably the reason why the old shopping mall Isetann in Carriedo is neither folding up nor selling the lot it was built on.
Present fair market values
Due to the paucity of sale transactions involving real estate in the Rizal Avenue area of Manila, it is hard to pinpoint an exact figure regarding the fair market values of the properties in the area.
This is because the history of sale for the past three years, or the history of purchase prices in sale transactions in the area, is one of the factors in determining fair market values, according to Leo Hernandez, a former president of the Philippine Association of Realtors Board.
The possible utilization of the property, factoring in the properties and improvements adjacent to the property subject of the appraisal, may also have an impact on the fair market value of a particular property.
According to Institute of Philippine Real Estate Appraisers President Leo Albano, the LRT could still have some positive effects on the fair market values of properties on Rizal Avenue, especially those near the train stations. Albano said the proximity to the train stations makes it more convenient for residents in the area to get to their workplaces elsewhere in the metropolis.
Albano said properties near the train stations are generally 20 percent to 30 percent more valuable than other properties that are farther away, given that other factors, such as the utilization and improvements of adjacent properties, which affect the appraisal of a particular property, are the same.
A study conducted by an online property portal indicated that properties close to train stations are about 15 percent more expensive than condominiums that are less than a kilometer away, as railways are still considered the fastest transportation mode in Metro Manila.
Historical premium?
It is arguable whether a historical background of a particular property could actually put a premium that would make the fair market value of that property unusually high.
Hernandez said that sometimes the price of a parcel of land on which a historical building stands could be boosted by its historical background. He cited the residence of former President Jose P. Laurel on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City which was sold to former Senator and another Nacionalista Party stalwart Manuel Villar as an example of a parcel of land that has gone up faster due to its historical background.
However, some appraisers would disagree as to the premium to be given to some of the old buildings on Rizal Avenue which were built during the American occupation.
During the heyday of the bodabil era—the local adaptation of vaudeville, which is the theatrical genre of variety entertainment in North America in the late 1800s up to the period before World War II—many art deco buildings mushroomed on Rizal Avenue, most of them designed by renowned architects and National Artists Juan Nakpil and Pablo Antonio.
Nakpil designed, among many others, the Avenue Theater (demolished in 2006) and the State Theater (demolished in 2001), both found on Rizal Avenue.
Meanwhile, Antonio designed the Ideal Theater, which was demolished in the 1970s, and the Scala Theater, which is still standing but is in a dilapidated condition.
According to the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, these theaters on Rizal Avenue, back when it was still called Avenida Rizal, used to be the venues for theatrical performances, then they were converted to become moviehouses during the 1960s and the 1970s when the Philippine movie industry flourished.
The storied Capitan Pepe Building, designed by Nakpil in the 1930s and still standing at the corner of Claro M. Recto and Rizal avenues, used to house The Moonlit Terrace and The Central Hotel, which used to be popular venues for prom nights and graduation balls. During the Japanese occupation, it used to house a military police (Kempeitai) headquarters.
But now, even though some of these historical buildings are still standing, their historical background would not be a premium on the value of the land if sold to a buyer who has other purposes for it aside from rekindling and capitalizing on its very historical background.
Engr. Jose Ocampo, a licensed appraiser, said some of these old buildings could not be considered as improvements in appraising the properties, and could actually be a “nuisance” because the buyer of the properties would still have to demolish the old building if he intends to do something else with it.
While it may be possible that the historical background of these properties could amount to nothing in the appraisal process of their fair market values, Ocampo said properties on Rizal Avenue could still fetch a high price, anywhere from P60,000 to P150,000 per square meter, depending on the “peculiar circumstances” of a particular parcel of land.
These peculiar circumstances include, among others, the adjacent properties and their uses, the size of the lot, the size of the streets adjacent to the property, and all other details considered by appraisers in determining the fair market value of a particular property.
Rizal Avenue’s revival
Nonetheless, these high market values of prime real estate in the area could only mean that efforts to regain the lost glory of Rizal Avenue may not be such a tall order. For one, its glorious past may have inspired businesses, such as the Manila Grand Opera Hotel, to set up shop in the area.
The Manila Grand Opera Hotel was built on the original site of the revered Manila Grand Opera House at the corner of Rizal Avenue and Doroteo Jose Street. ALC Group of Companies, which owns and operates Manila Grand Opera Hotel, has decided to retain its name to serve as a reminder to Filipinos to remember their roots and the lessons of history.
It was at the Manila Grand Opera House when the first Philippine Assembly was inaugurated in 1907, and, as an opera house, became the center of cultural events that helped shape the minds of Filipinos before World War II.
Rizal Avenue occupies a significant place in the nation’s history. The government and the private sector can always look back on Rizal Avenue’s glorious past to find ways to recapture its old magic.
Image credits: Patrick Roque