Property tycoon Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp. is debuting into Pampanga’s property market with a P30-billion investment to develop a 35.6-hectare prime property beside the provincial capitol of the city of San Fernando, Pampanga, into its newest township.
The expansion into Central Luzon would also mark the property company’s 19th township estate project in the country, Megaworld said in a statement Monday.
“As part of our aggressive township expansion across the country, we are happy to announce our entry into Pampanga. This is the perfect time and opportunity to be present in this progressive province, where else but right at the heart of the provincial capital, which is a prime location for an urban township development,” said Megaworld senior vice president Jericho Go.
The property is about 70 kilometers from Manila and very accessible via the North Luzon Expressway (San Fernando exit) and the Jose Abad Santos Ave., also known as the Olongapo-Gapan Road. It is also 20 kilometers from Clark International Airport.
“Just like our other townships, we will integrate residential, office, commercial, retail and institutional components in this development. As we see a potential pool of skilled talents for the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector in the province, we are certain to build a cyberpark, bring in our partner locators to the township and generate thousands of jobs for the people of Pampanga,” Go said.
The City of San Fernando is a regional growth center and a vital component of the industrial corridor of Central Luzon as it hosts the Clark Special Economic Zone. The city has a population of 285,912 based on the census made by National Statistics Office in May 2010. About 63.4 percent of the population are of working age. Based on the city’s official website, most of its human resources are employed in trade (17.7 percent), manufacturing (14.7 percent), transport, storage and communication (12.9 percent) and construction (12.6 percent). The rest are into community, social and postal service (9.7 percent), agriculture (7 percent), private household employment (7 percent), electric, gas and water (6.8 percent), education (5.8 percent), financing, insurance and real estate (4.3 percent).
The newest township development will be the fourth to be launched by Megaworld this year. The company earlier broke ground on two townships in Negros Occidental, namely Northill Gateway (50 hectares) and The Upper East (34 hectares); and another township in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, called Santa Barbara Heights (170 hectares).
The new townships will add close to 400 hectares to the group-wide portfolio, bringing the total township land area of the Megaworld group to 3,100 hectares by the end of the year.