ALI jumpstarts P80-B dev’t plan

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is jumpstarting the P80-billion development of its newest township and business district with the launch of an upscale residential project and several retail and office concepts.

A significant portion of the 74-hectare Arca South (formerly Food Terminal Inc.) in Taguig will be transformed into a mixed-use development catering to nearly 500,000 residents and workers in the next five years, executives said.

Under the five-year development program, ALI will spend P80 billion to roll out 3,645 residential units and a retail concept with 150,000 square meters (sqm.) of leasable space, Anna Bautista-Dy, ALI vice president and chief of the Strategic Landbank Management Group, said in a briefing.

The property firm will also launch nine business process outsourcing (BPO) buildings with 200,000 sqm. of gross floor area, a boutique hotel and a 250-bed hospital, Dy said.

“We expect 60,000 residents and 400,000 office workers will find home here,” Dy said.

In 2012, the listed real estate firm won the bidding for the 74-hectare FTI complex after offering P24.3 billion.

“We will see the transformation of rusted old warehouses into a new central business district (CBD),” Dy said. ALI made a name for itself after developing a vast swampland into what is now the Makati CBD.

For the residential segment, ALI will offer 3,645 residential units in the next five year, of which 1,134 units are under Ayala Land Premier (ALP), 902 under Alveo and 1,609 under Avida.

Jose Juan Z. Jugo, ALI vice president and head of high-end residential brand ALP, said the company expects P3.5 billion in sales from the five-tower Arbor Lanes project.

The 3.4-hectare residential project will offer intimate garden living. Turnover of 208 units in the first 13-story tower is scheduled in 2018, Jugo said.

Upper- and middle-income brand Alveo and affordable housing unit Avida expects to sell P9.2 billion and P5 billion worth of residential units, respectively, in Arca South in the next five years.

Under the phase one development plan, ALI will open a 90,000-sqm. lifestyle mall late in 2017. It will be followed by a 200,000-sqm. regional mall in 2020, making Arca South’s commercial footprint larger than Ayala Center’s 250,000 sqm.

In next five years, ALI will launch nine BPO buildings with 200,000 sqm. of gross floor area, two of which will start operations in 2017. It will also build a 250-bed QualiMed hospital and a 200-room Seda hotel.

To fast track the development of Arca South, ALI already sold 19 commercial lots averaging P160,000 per sqm.

 â€œWhat we are doing in Arca South is no different from what we did in Makati and Bonifacio Global City (BGC): we sold some lots to parties that will help prime the development,” Dy said.

Dy said Arca South will be a beneficiary of the Southeast Intermodal Transport System and the Skyway C5/C6 connection even as the company develops its pedestrian-friendly roads with an integrated basement network for vehicles.

“We envision Arca South to become an entrance to Metro Manila for those coming from the south,” Dy said.

The property arm of the Ayala conglomerate is the firm behind Nuvali estate in Laguna, Ayala Alabang and Alabang Town Center, Cebu Business Park, BGC and Makati CBD.

ALI will spend P70 billion this year, up from P66.26 billion in 2013, to complete ongoing developments and new launches to help sustain the growth trajectory in the coming years. It also plans to launch 78 projects this year with an estimated value of P142 billion.

In 2013, ALI’s profits surged 30 percent to a record P11.74 billion from P9.04 billion in 2012. Hence, the property already breached the income target under its 5-10-15 program that was launched in 2009 amid the global financial crisis. It is a five-year plan ending in 2014 that aims to boost net income of ALI to P10 billion and return on equity to 15 percent.