Century Properties to put up $100-M medical building

MANILA, Philippines - Century Properties Inc. will break ground tomorrow on a $100-million world-class, outpatient medical-information technology building in Makati in partnership with General Electric Co. unit GE Healthcare.

In a statement, Century Properties said the project, which will rise within the 3.4- hectare Century City along Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City, is expected to generate 3,000 jobs during its construction and 5,000 jobs upon the start of operations.

Century City is the company’s flagship mixed-use project.

The project, slated to be operational in the latter part of 2013 or early 2014, is envisioned to provide a platform where the Philippines can compete with its Asian neighbors in the competitive sunshine industry of medical tourism, which registered $2 billion in revenues last year.

The GE and Century Properties joint venture was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 23, 2010 in New York.

As a state-of-the-art outpatient medical arts building, the project will be equipped with the latest technology and equipment that will enable doctors to practice their disciplines with great ease, as well as provide fast and convenient services to local patients and medical tourists.

The building will house clinics of doctors specializing in various disciplines of medicine; floors devoted to diagnostic equipment and services; rooms for aesthetic procedures; post-recovery suites; cafes and restaurants; and spaces for other service providers in health, wellness and preventive medicine.

With about 30-member hospitals, clinics, wellness center and resorts, the Philippine medical tourism industry chalked in revenues of $350 million since 2006. The Department of Tourism is eyeing $3 billion by 2015 with up to one million foreign patients a year.

Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17-billion unit of industrial giant General Electric which provides transformational medical technologies and services.

Century Properties, on the other hand, has more than 60 projects in its portfolio, which include the upscale Essensa East Forbes in Bonifacio Global City.