Vista Land to spend P50B on ‘Vista City’ project

Villar-led Vista Land and Landscapes Inc. has allocated at least P50 billion to develop over the next five years a master-planned central business district (CBD) occupying portions of five cities in southern Metro Manila as well as the nearby provinces of Cavite and Laguna.

Vista Land chair Manuel B. Villar said in a briefing on Saturday that the ambitious, flagship “Vista City” project would rise over a 1,500-hectare tract of land spread across the cities of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa in Metro Manila, Bacoor and Dasmariñas in Cavite and Sta. Rosa in Laguna.

“We want Vista City to be the No. 1 master-planned community in the country, outside of Makati,” Villar said. “Potential locators are very excited about this.”

The entire expanse of Vista City will be developed over the next 25 years, but Villar said the next five years alone would see big-ticket residential and commercial developments that “will provide an increase in revenues for Vista Land,” without disclosing figures.

Already, about 45,000 residential units under Vista Land’s Camella, Brittany and Crown Asia brands now stand across 500 hectares of Vista City, with plans to build vertical housing projects under Vista Residences on a 250-hectare site.

The remaining 1,000 hectares, meanwhile, will have commercial developments such as medium- and high-rise buildings for business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, shopping centers, hospitals, schools as well as sports facilities, Villar said.

The five-hectare commercial and retail hub dubbed “Evia Lifestyle Center” is expected to be completed in “a few months’ time,” Villar said, with a gross floor area (GFA) of 40,000 square meters. Its second phase, an open-air retail promenade to be called “Evia Global Village,” meanwhile, will have a GFA of 80,000 sqm. A third phase with a GFA also of 80,000 sqm is in the planning stages as well, Villar disclosed.

Also, a 250-hectare business and commerce district mainly aimed at attracting BPO companies—dubbed “Vista Hub”—will rise along the Daang Hari area. An initial 10 hectares adjacent to Evia will house eight towers for BPOs as well as commercial establishments. The BPO buildings will have a gross leasable area (GLA) of 290,000 sqm, Villar said.

Talks with potential partners for hospitals as well as schools that will establish operations within the 100-hectare “University Town” are underway, Villar said.

A hotel may also rise at Vista City, but it remains to be seen if it will be a homegrown Vista Land brand, the former senator said.

Villar said the company could jack up its capital expenditures for Vista City as well as add another 200-300 hectares if the development would receive a warm reception from potential locators.

Vista Land also plans to establish one more master-planned community within Metro Manila, Villar disclosed.