ALI allots P25B for QC project

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. has earmarked P25 billion to develop within the next 10 years an old textile factory site in Balintawak into a pocket mixed-use urban development, expanding its footprint in Quezon City.

ALI broke ground Monday on the 11-hectare township called Cloverleaf, which is expected to be a “place of convergence” given its strategic location at the crossroads between Edsa and A. Bonifacio as well as its proximity to one of the ramps of the North-South Luzon Expressway connector road, which is expected to be completed by 2017.

The township will be developed in two phases, at the end of which a total of 11 buildings will rise in Cloverleaf.

Thirty-four percent of the estate will be assigned to residential projects under the Avida and Alveo brands. This will include a 1.4-hectare Avida Towers compound that will offer about 2,000 units and Alveo Towers with a total of 600 units.

A bigger chunk equivalent to 62 percent of Cloverleaf will house numerous retail and business developments, including a 40,000-square-meter regional mall that is targeted to open in the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018.

The township will also feature a 250-bed medical facility under the brand Qualimed—a partnership between ALI and the Mercado groups. This will be Qualimed’s flagship hospital in the northern part of Metro Manila. It will be a 10-level hospital with a footprint of 25,000 square meters.

“We have wanted to be in this area for a long time,” ALI senior vice president and head of strategic landbank management group Meean Dy said in a press briefing yesterday. She said this was a “very strategic patch of the city.”

The area used to be the site of one of the country’s leading textile factories but had been vacant for many years. ALI bought the property in 2013.

Dy cited the bustling retail and wholesale trade in this area. She also noted that the township would be accessible through the Metro Railway Station traversing Edsa. In the Balintawak station alone, about 50,000 commuters pass by every day.

“We always make it a point to locate where our products and services are easily accessible to more people,” Dy said. “We have a sizeable market for this development.”

“Cloverleaf will give access to refreshing retail, business, lifestyle and residential possibilities—elements that create an ideal urban lifestyle,” she added.

For the first phase of development, ALI will invest P15 billion in the next five years to complete eight buildings. This will include the mall, the hospital and five residential buildings. The first residents are expected to move in by 2019.

Christopher Maglanoc, Avida Land president, said his company was now working to secure the permits needed. The target is to start pre-selling units by April. Estimated price for an Avida Land unit in this location is about P110,000 a square meter, which means a 23-square-meter studio unit will cost around P2.3 million.

A highlight of the development is the landscaped pedestrian promenade that will connect Edsa to A. Bonifacio and envisioned to allow residents, shoppers and workers to have a safe and comfortable walking experience.

The upcoming mall, on the other hand, is being groomed to be a “melting pot for Asian culture, offering gathering and dining concepts not only for residents of Balintawak, but also locals of Caloocan, Malabon, Novaliches and Valenzuela.”

The hospital QualiMed Balintawak, on the other hand, is envisioned to specialize in cancer and cardiology and offer the most comprehensive healthcare services in the growing healthcare network.

ALI has aggressively expanded in northern Metro Manila in recent years. Aside from Cloverleaf, its projects in the area are Vertis North, UP Town Center, UP Technohub and Fairview Terraces.