Lopez-owned Rockwell Land eyes new project in Ortigas

Following the success of its project in Makati, the Lopez-owned property developer Rockwell Land is considering to do another project at Ortigas Center.

More than halfway through with its P24-billion Rockwell Center in Makati, Rockwell Land is poised to undertake "pocket development" in other sites. Rockwell Land is one company that has managed to sustain operations with self-generated funds and steer clear from any debt obligations.

Benpres chief operating officer J. Xavier Gonzales said the Lopez group is working on plans to develop half of the sprawling 27-hectare Meralco land in Ortigas into another Rockwell Center and take advantage of the improving business climate, particularly for real estate.

Lot prices in the Ortigas area have softened to around P70,000 to P80,000 per square meter at present, from their pre-crisis peak of as much as P150,000/sqm.

"It's a seed, so you can build a lot of stuff around it," Gonzales said. "But first, we have to rationalize the development and not get into a 'chop suey' approach."

There are plans to relocate the Medical City hospital complex in Mandaluyong and put up the Ateneo Medical School within the Meralco property. Medical City, one of the largest private hospitals in the country, is partly owned by Benpres, which invested 24.8 percent in the hospital's corporate vehicle Professional Services Inc.

"We'd like to see a better Ortigas," Gonzales said.

Meralco owns a majority 51 percent of Rockwell Land, along with parent firm First Philippine Holdings and Lopez holding unit Benpres Holdings.

There are only a few projects in Metro Manila which integrate commercial, residential, business and entertainment facilities within a continguous complex. They are the Filinvest City in Alabang, the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig-Makati and the Rockwell Center.

The 15.5-ha Rockwell Center, bounded by the Pasig River in the north and the Bel-Air Village in the south, is a mixed-use project revolving around four high-rise residential towers, complemented by a luxurious clubhouse, a 50,000-sqm, five-level shopping center set to open by October this year and the Rockwell Community made up of the Ateneo Graduate Schools for business, law and governance and two 15-storey corporate headquarters: the Nestle and Phinma offices.