Ortigas investing P10 B for major redevelopment

MANILA, Philippines -  Ortigas & Co., the premier property developer of some of Metro Manila’s affluent residential enclaves and mixed-use projects, is pouring in close to P10 billion in capital expenditures this year as it goes full throttle with the major redevelopment of its different parcels of land.

The company may do an initial public offering sometime in the future if its redevelopment blueprint goes as planned, company president and CEO Jaime Ysmael said.

Ysmael, formerly Ayala Land Inc. chief finance officer, is now at the helm of the company after the Ayala and the SM Groups entered the property giant in 2014.

“We’re focusing on getting the organization in order but that (an IPO) is something that is possible in the future, I’m sure, if we deliver the results,” Ysmael told The STAR.

This year’s capex is higher than the roughly P6 billion the company allocated in 2016.

In 2014, the SM Group and Ayala Land made their entry to the company by partnering with the two factions in the Ortigas family, the family behind Ortigas & Co.

Ysmael said there are four priority projects. These are the redevelopment of the 16-hectare Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan, the 18-hectare Frontera Verde in Pasig, the 10-hectare Circulo Verde in Kalye Industriya, and the 10-hectare Capitol Commons near the Ortigas area.

He said the company has already completed the masterplan of the Greenhills Shopping Complex which would include the construction of a second residential tower.

“We are in the midst of redeveloping the entire shopping complex. We are building a second residential tower and then a retail or mall of office complex,” Ysmael said.

“The masterplan has been done. It will be a mixed-use development to make it much more conducive,” he added.

Likewise, the company is also completing Capitol Commons, a popular commercial and residential space in Pasig.

Here, the company will open Unimart next year which would complement Estancia Mall and the offices.

The company now has three residential towers in the posh property and is building three more within the next five years.

“There will be stores and food outlets. We are also looking at office buildings,” Ysmael said.

For the third component, which is the Tiendesitas area along Libis, Ysmael said the company would expand the shopping center to include more traditional shopping spaces aside from the Tiendesitas type of retail.

“For this, we are now completing masterplan. It will be an integrated mixed-use development,” he said.

The last parcel is Circulo Verde in Kalye Industriya, which Ysmael said is a residential community.

“We have five residential towers and then a retail outlet,” he said.