Central Luzon to become next big business hub

TOURISTS and foodie alike do not come to Central Luzon for fun and recreation, but as potential investors as this is now becoming the center of attraction for them to locate and do business.

This could be mainly attributed to modernization and massive infrastructure developments currently taking place in this rising alternative destination for leisure and commerce.

Seeing the promising offerings of the region, a number of real-estate players have already located here with their various projects dotting its landscape.

Leading the pack is a homegrown business and property mover of Pampanga and the whole of Central Luzon.

AC Beautiful Islands (Acbi) Realty Development Corp., the real-estate arm of the Jenra Group of Cos., is now behind The Infinity—the foremost and biggest central business district (CBD) in the region.

Such flagship project of the company traverses the cities of Angeles and Mabalacat in Pampanga.

Master planned by Palafox Associates is a 40-hectare development that soon houses business, commercial, residential and all other dynamic features that will complete a community.

“We are very proud to open exciting prospects not only for our hometown but for the rest of the region,” said Byron John T. Siy, general manager of Acbi Realty and Development Corp.

According to him, the CBD will kick off the year by welcoming its newest locators PTT and Skygold and with all the upcoming infrastructures in the area.

“We are sure that The Infinity will soon be comparable even with established CBD’s in the Metro city,” he added.

From an idyllic region known for its vast agricultural topography, Central Luzon at present boasts of a world-class airport, an all-weather golf course and the world’s largest indoor arena, to name a few.

Further developments are in the offing as new support structures are underway to give way to ease of doing business here.

For instance, Clark International Airport—the Philippines’s gateway to the world from the Central and Northern Luzon provinces—can possibly replace Metro Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) as the country’s main aviation center in the future.

The Diosdado Macapagal Terminal and Terminal 2, on the other hand, were expanded to accommodate low-cost carriers.

Two more airports are expected to be finished and all will be fully operational by 2025.

Upon completion, these four terminals will bolster Clark’s annual passenger capacity to over 110 million, or almost three times the capability of Naia’s four terminals that can handle an estimated number of 36 million passengers a year.

The airport is also being groomed to become among the nation’s first “aerotropolis” or a community that features a world-class aviation facility surrounded by business clusters and residential projects.

Travel by land to Central Luzon is a breeze—thanks to its directly link to the Northern Luzon Expressway through the Angeles Exit.

But the ease doesn’t stop there.

The construction of Metro Rail Transit Line’s newest railway—MRT 7—is already in progress, so expect that Bulacan will just be half an hour away from Metro Manila by 2020. Spanning at 22 kilometers (kms), the soon-to-be-completed railway system will have 14 stations from MRT 3 North Edsa to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Given this, the project will efficiently lessen congestion on major roads going north of the country.

What’s more, several expressways will also link Central Luzon to Metro Manila and its surrounding regions to guarantee an easier and faster travel time.

The proposed North Luzon East Expressway, a 92.1-km four-lane expressway will connect Commonwealth Avenue to Nueva Ecija.

Also currently under construction is the 66.4-km Central Luzon Link Expressway  that will link Tarlac City to San Jose, Nueva Ecija.

On the other hand, the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway that links Hermosa, Bataan to Tarlac City; and the Tarlac–Pangasinan–La Union Expressway that links Tarlac City to La Union are already operational.

“Given all the investment being poured by both the public and private sector to Central Luzon, we are positive that Central Luzon will finally gain the attention it deserves,” Siy said.

“All these improvements plus the world-class service and commerce and leisure opportunities that will soon be available at The Infinity will raise the bar of business excellence in the region.”