MANILA, Philippines–Property developer Megaworld Corp. is breaking into industrial estate development by investing an initial P5 billion in a 200-hectare industrial park in Tanza, Cavite, the first industrial park in the country to offer lifestyle amenities.
The new industrial park called “Suntrust Ecotown” is undertaken through wholly-owned subsidiary Suntrust Properties Inc.
Formerly an agricultural land, the estate is positioned to be a major hub for light- to medium export-oriented industries, residential, commercial, and institutional establishments in southern Luzon, top officials announced yesterday.
The vision is to expand the industrial township to 350 hectares over the next eight years, during which about 500,000 new jobs are expected to be created, Suntrust Properties president Harrisson Paltongan said in a press briefing yesterday.
“This is our contribution to nation-building,” he said.
The group is selling industrial lots at minimum cuts of 5,000 square meters for P5,000 per square meter in Suntrust Ecotown. For foreign locators, they can acquire land through local entities or buy long-term leasehold rights given land ownership restrictions under local laws.
“Megaworld’s entry into industrial park development leads us to an innovative blueprint that will entice more foreign locators to invest in the Philippines. Suntrust Ecotown is designed to respond to the needs of dynamic export-oriented industries and to exceed their expectations by offering lifestyle amenities never seen before in any industrial park,” Megaworld senior vice president Jericho Go said.
Out of the initial 200 hectares, 111 hectares will be initially earmarked for industrial space, of which 24 percent had been sold to date, Paltongan said.