ALI to invest P6B for development of 38-hectare UP Science Park

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) plans to invest P6 billion over the next five to 10 years for the development of a 38-hectare property owned by the University of the Philippines along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City into a science and technology park.

ALI will develop the property into a fully-integrated information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services community, with low-rise office buildings to be complemented by supporting components such as retail, residential, and hotel developments.

The project, to be called UP North Science and Technology (S&T) Park, is targeted to commence development within the first half of 2007.

The contract between UP and ALI was signed last Friday.

UP president Emerlinda Roman said the S&T Park would be an important step in strengthening the state university’s position as the leading research-and-development school in the country and in the region.

"The S&T Park, which will soon rise in Diliman, fits right in with our vision of UP as being at par with the leading research universities around the world," she explained.

ALI president Jim Ayala, for his part, noted that the S&T Park will support UP’s commitment to education, training and research excellence by creating an environment where high-technology enterprises can interact with the academe in research and development and other technology-related projects.

"It will also be a vehicle for transforming innovative ideas into commercial products and start-up companies," he added.

Marivic Anonuevo, head of ALI’s corporate business group, meanwhile pointed out that the S&T Park will pioneer business process outsourcing (BPO) campus developments in the country.

Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte added that the development is expected to strengthen the host city as the ICT capital of the Philippines.