Megaworld aims to finish Mactan project in 5 years

CEBU, Philippines - The country’s largest township developer, Megaworld Inc., targets to complete its P10 billion project in Mactan Island called “The Mactan Newtown” in the next five years.

The development, which is likened to Manila’s Eastwood City in Libis, is a 16-hectare development that will host several residential, commercial, retail, wellness, hotel, food, entertainment and leisure facilities, and is expected to be the next destination to watch for in Cebu, said Megaworld Corporation first vice president for sales and marketing Noli D. Hernandez in a press conference held recently at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

Its first cluster of towers, which are currently under construction are already sold out to young Japanese retirees. It has a total of 716 condominium units.

 Meanwhile, the company is set to construct its second cluster called “The Newtown Boulevard” which consists of four towers, the two towers are already contracted by another group of Japanese buyers, while the other tower will be offered to the local market. One tower of the second cluster will be built for the growing demand from the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) tenants.

Hernandez said in the next five years, the Mactan Newtown will be able to help in improving the local economy by building enough space to be able to accommodate 25,000 office and BPO seats. This is estimated to generate around 40,000 jobs.

Megaworld Corporation bought the 17-hectare property in Mactan in 1997. The company started to develop the property only recently, as the company sees the right timing while demand is considerably improving.

In November, the Lapu-Lapu City Government signed a memorandum of agreement with Megaworld Corp. for the joint venture project.

The firm is also getting accreditation from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) to have the project declared an economic zone.

The One World Center, a five-level office building designed to serve the needs of top firms in the BPO and IT industries.

Some potential locators include Quantum Leap, Accenture, Hewlett Packard, Dell and IBM.

Megaworld Corp. is the developer of the 18-hectare Eastwood City, the firm’s pioneering “live-work-play township.”

The company is also forging a partnership with the Cebu Doctors Group, to establish a Wellness Center or Therapeutic Center to complete its “live, work and play” concept of the township development.

If Cebu has destinations like downtown, uptown districts, in the next few years, Cebu will have a third district destination—“The Mactan Newtown.”

This new development is adjacent to Shangri-La Mactan and Portofino along the Hilutungan Channel near Magellan Bay, making the beach resort lifestyle even more accessible.

This year, the company allocates P25 billion capital expenditure (capex) to complete the ongoing projects as well as develop new ones.

Megaworld is currently developing over 40 residential and BPO office projects in Metro Manila alone.

Last year, Megaworld posted a net income of P8.15 billion up 60 percent from a year earlier on strong real estate sales, higher income leasing incThailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Founded in 1908, it currently has 16 production facilities and 43 sales companies operating in 44 countries in different regions. — (FREEMAN)