P65-B ‘Broadway of Asia’ to rise in Entertainment City

THE GROUP of tycoon Andrew Tan is investing P65 billion to develop a new entertainment complex envisioned to be the “Broadway of Asia” at the Pagcor Entertainment City, in a bid to build on the gains of its pioneering integrated gaming resort Newport City.

Property developer Megaworld Corp. and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., the developer and operator of Resorts World in the Philippines, on Monday jointly announced a plan to develop “Westside City,” a 31-hectare township that would house the second local Resorts World property.

Scheduled for completion by the last quarter of 2020, the township will also be home to Megaworld’s upscale residential condominiums, a luxury mall as well as international hotel brands such as The Westin Hotel of the Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts Group, Hotel Okura Manila of the Okura Hotels & Resorts, the Genting Grand and Crockfords Tower of the Genting Group, and Kingsford Hotel. These hotels will have a total of around 1,500 rooms.

Part of the company’s vision for Westside City is to become the “Broadway of Asia” to highlight facilities that will cater to the performing arts.

It will also be home to what is touted to be the Philippines’ first Grand Opera House with a total capacity of 3,000, based on a statement issued on Monday.

Tan has been supporting Filipino performing arts, with the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in Newport City having developed as a platform for original Filipino stage plays.

“We are very excited to see Westside City rising to be a showcase of Manila as a truly world-class Philippine capital,” said Tan, who is chair and chief executive of Megaworld and Alliance Global Group Inc., the parent conglomerate of Megaworld and Travellers International.

Westside City is Megaworld’s 20th integrated urban township. It is also the company’s second leisure and entertainment township, next to Newport City.

The project was previously called “Bayshore City,” but the group decided to drop the “overused” word “bay.”

The new name, on the other hand, is in reference to the strategic location of the project, being on the west side of the capital city of Manila.

While building a second entertainment hub, the group is also sprucing up its first integrated resort in Newport City, the country’s first privately run integrated gaming resort that opened its doors six years ago.

The group expects this original hub, which is located right across the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, to capture a broader market in order to grow non-gaming revenues.

Travellers, a joint venture between AGI and the Genting group of Malaysia, plans to expand hotel capacity in Newport City to about 4,500 rooms in the next four years from the existing 1,226 rooms. Marriott and Maxims Hotels are both undergoing expansion, while new hotels are also being developed—Hilton Manila Hotel, Sheraton Hotel Manila and Belmont Hotel, among others.

With the second and third phases of expansion at Newport City going full blast, the complex still has close to two hectares to build on.