Building better cities: Innovation, integration and placemaking
MANILA, Philippines — For decades, progress was measured in towers: who built the tallest, the shiniest, the most spectacular. Now, the Philippines is thinking bigger. The new ambition is not individual icons but whole districts: places where people can live, work, shop and belong. That shift runs through the winners of the 13th PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards 2025, which capture a market moving from construction to placemaking.
Take the SM Mall of Asia Complex by SM Estates (Winner, Best Township Development). Conceived as a city within a city, it stitches together condominiums, schools, convention venues, hotels, malls and arenas into a single connected environment.
In Batangas, Century PHirst Centrale Batulao by PHirst Park Homes Inc. (Highly Commended, Best Township Development) offers a different model: the “15-minute city” expressed through a central spine road linking homes, commercial lots and community hubs.
Further south, Iloilo’s Georgia, A Prime Vista Estates Development by Communities Iloilo, Inc. (Highly Commended, Best Township Development) draws on the American South for inspiration, layering residential enclaves, lifestyle malls and green corridors. Each project shows that townships today are about orchestrating whole communities, not just building stock.
Industry has entered the same conversation. LIMA Estate by Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates (Winner, Best Industrial Development) has become the country’s largest privately owned industrial zone and the first to secure 5-Star BERDE District certification, marrying global manufacturing with lifestyle and community amenities.
Mindanao has its own anchor in Anflo Industrial Estate by Damosa Land, Inc. (Highly Commended, Best Industrial Development), a hub that blends agro-industry with renewable energy and water recycling. In Central Luzon, TARI Estate by Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates (Highly Commended, Best Industrial Development) positions itself as a logistics and tech platform near Clark Airport, with renewable power and smart mobility as part of the blueprint.
At the helm of these shifts is leadership that treats sustainability as strategy. Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, President and CEO of Aboitiz Land, Inc. and Head of Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates (Winner, Real Estate Personality of the Year), has overseen billions in investment and more than 100,000 jobs across estates that now carry the pioneering BERDE-District Certification. His recognition highlights a larger point: industrial zones are no longer measured only in exports or payrolls, but in how they nurture communities.
In Batangas, The Villages at LIMA Estate by Aboitiz Land, Inc. (Highly Commended, Best CBD Development) ensures the industrial estate’s core is not just a workplace but also a place to live. And Biz Hub at LIMA Estate by Aboitiz InfraCapital (Winner, Best Green CBD Development) pulls everything together across 70 hectares, where offices, retail, leisure and hospitality converge, powered by renewable energy and an electric shuttle network.
The same ethos is reshaping central business districts. In Cebu, Johndorf Tower by Johndorf Ventures Corporation (Winner, Best CBD Development) rises as a modern hub, pairing its glass façades with energy-efficient systems and landscaped plazas.
Johndorf Tower is emblematic of this shift. Crowned Best CBD Development and Best Office Development, it also earned commendations in Best BPO Office Development and Best Green Commercial Development, making it one of the most decorated projects of the year. The breadth of recognition reflects its versatility: a tower that functions as a business hub, service centre and civic anchor, pairing glass façades and landscaped plazas with systems designed for energy efficiency and workplace wellbeing.
It was joined by LIMA Tower One by Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates (Winner, Best BPO Office Development), which anchors Batangas’ fast-rising industrial hub with a next-generation workplace designed for global outsourcing firms.
Together with Cybergate Iloilo Tower 2 by Robinsons Offices, Cybergate Dumaguete and Felcris Centrale, these projects highlight how the country’s office story is no longer confined to Metro Manila but is being written across regional centres.
And across the Visayas and Mindanao, innovation is spreading fast: Cybergate Iloilo Tower 2 by Robinsons Offices (Highly Commended, Best Office Development), Cybergate Dumaguete by Robinsons Offices (Highly Commended, Best BPO Office Development) and Felcris Centrale by Felcris Hotels & Resorts Corporation (Highly Commended in both Best Office Development and Best BPO Office Development) all show how secondary cities are becoming part of the country’s office story.
Manila, meanwhile, is led by GBF Centers 1 & 2 by Robinsons Offices (Winner, Best Green Commercial Development), the nation’s largest office complex with LEED Gold v4 certification—proof that sustainability is now the baseline, not the add-on.
Leisure and hospitality developments are carrying equal weight. In Cebu, The Mall | NUSTAR by Robinsons Land (Winner, Best Retail Development) transforms shopping into a cultural experience, with maritime-inspired architecture, sweeping atriums and coastal promenades.
In Quezon City, Fili Hotel Bridgetowne by Robinsons Hotels and Resorts (Winner, Best Hotel Development) debuts as the country’s first authentic five-star Filipino brand, with 308 rooms, wellness amenities and interiors that root luxury in local culture.
In Sarangani, Avia Estate by Alsons Development and Investment Corporation (Winner, Best Mixed Use Development) demonstrates how housing, commerce and institutions can coexist between mountains and sea.
These projects reveal a Philippine property market expanding its horizons. Townships are designed as holistic communities, industrial estates as inclusive engines, CBDs as civic anchors, offices as wellness spaces and retail and hospitality as cultural landmarks.
The skyline still matters, but it is the fabric of places—how they connect, include and endure—that defines progress.
Editor’s Note: This press release for PropertyGuru is not covered by Philstar.com's editorial guidelines.
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