Federal Land Inc., the property arm of the Metrobank Group, will start construction of its planned P20 billion mixed-use complex in Bonifacio Global City in the fourth quarter of this year to take advantage of the growing demand for residential and office buildings in the former military base.
Federal Land president Alfred Ty said the company is close to finalizing the masterplan for its proposed project in the northeastern part of Bonifacio Global City which will cover the 10.4-hectare property owned by financial services giant Metrobank and the Bases Conversion Development Authority’s two lots totaling 15.3 hectares.
Ty said the whole project, which will include the development of residential, office, and retail components, will take 10 to 15 years to complete.
The 66-story building, touted to be the country’s tallest will house a five star-hotel which will make available 350 to 400 rooms. It is slated for completion in 2012.
The group is now in talks with several foreign hotel operators including the Hyatt Group which operates several chains of hotels under the Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt brands, and expects to close a deal in the next few months.
As for the retail component of the project, Ty said Federal Land is conceptualizing a plan similar to Singapore’s Orchard Road which houses many shopping centers and a wide array of dining venues under one roof.
Unfazed by the global credit crunch, Federal Land remains bullish on the property sector given its line-up of new and ongoing projects.
“I think there will still be demand. Consumers’ appetite may have simmered a little but its just a matter of coming up with the right product. And our strategy is to ensure high quality for our projects,” Ty said.
Federal Land is spending P5 billion for the development of four projects, including two properties which are joint ventures with Metrobank. These are Capitol Towers (a 9,000-square meter property along E. Rodriguez Ave.) and The Oriental Place (TOP), a residential condominium building located along Don Chino Roces ave. (formerly Pasong Tamo), Makati City.
Aside from this, Fedland is developing a P4-billion three tower complex within the 40-hectare Bay Garden community in Pasay City. It is continuously developing its 17-hectare property in Marikina.
The project will be funded using internally-generated cash from pre-selling and borrowings from banks.
Aside from this, Federal Land in partnership with Japanese financial services firm Orix Corp. will build an upscale twin residential condominium in a 4,000 square meter property along Legazpi St., Makati City to be called The Grand Midori.
Estimated to cost P4 billion, the Grand Midori will offer about 622 residential units priced at between P3.4 million and P16 million, targeting the middle-to-high end market.
The first of the two 38-storey twin towers is expected to be completed in 2012. Construction will begin early next year.
To market its projects abroad, Federal Land has opened offices in Italy, Rome, Singapore, Guam and the US. It plans to build more marketing offices in other countries where a large concentration of Filipinos reside or work.