Ortigas to spend P15B for mixed-use project
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:22:00 05/18/2008
MANILA, Philippines--Property developer Ortigas & Co. recently unveiled a major mixed-use real estate project, signaling a major shift in strategy for the conservative firm and bucking a general slowdown in the sector this year.
In a press briefing, Ortigas & Co. chief operating officer Rex Drilon II said the company would spend as much as P15 billion over the next decade to develop a 12-hectare property in Quezon City.
The project, dubbed Aqua Verde Ortigas, will rise at the end of Calle Industria, along the Marikina River and near the Eastwood City complex of Megaworld Corp.
Company officials stressed the Aqua Verde project would be "unequalled" by other community developments like Eastwood, the Lopez group's Rockwell complex or the Serendra project of Ayala Land Inc.
We will have the lowest density in terms of floor area ratio (FAR)," Drilon said.
FAR measures all covered floors of a certain project as a percentage of its total land area. A lower FAR represents lower living area density which allows a property firm to charge a premium for the project.
The company said the Aqua Verde project would have a FAR of four, compared to five for Rockwell, eight for Serendra, and as high as 11 for Eastwood.
Drilon added that the other main selling point of the project was its "value for money" price, as it would be selling it for an average of P80,000 per square meter, or lower than the price tags for similar developments.
A total of 5,000 units would be sold for the entire project, and the first of four phases will be launched later this year.
More importantly, Drilon said the project represented a shift in strategy for the firm since it would be its first venture into mixed-use community developments.
Included in this strategy, he said, was the "long-term redevelopment of Ortigas Center," which would see several new projects rise on vacant lots within the central business district.
Drilon said the redevelopment would also be "master-planned" by urban planning consultant RTKL, potentially addressing a long-standing weakness of the country's second largest central business district.
He also said RTKL was in the process of completing plans for a new Greenhills Shopping Center that would be launched before the end of the year.
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