Megaworld, the Philippines’ largest developer of integrated urban townships and the biggest lessor of office spaces, will spend around P180 billion in the next 10 years to develop its provincial townships alone
It takes a whole community to build a nation and more than just one sector to create a vibrant economy.
Over the years, every industry—no matter how small or big in scale and impact—has played quite a crucial role in helping boost the local economy to become one of the top performers in the region, and in putting the country within the radar of the foreign investor community.
Admittedly, there are some industries that generate a heftier share in the country’s growth than the others.
Significant contribution
Such is the case with the real estate industry and other related sectors, whose contribution to the Philippine economic success story cannot be undermined.
After all, the real estate firms provide decent homes for families to live in; commercial structures that allow local and foreign businesses to thrive; hotels and resorts that boost tourism; and even the industrial spaces, economic zones and IT parks that form part of the country’s attractiveness for companies looking to set up manufacturing facilities here.
One of the biggest contributions of Megaworld to nation building was the pioneering of integrated urban townships in the Philippines.
In fact, the new director general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Charito B. Plaza, has called on real estate companies to help in building the necessary ecozones that will provide spaces for prospective foreign investors.
“We are inviting all the real estate developers to divert their interest in land development into economic zones,” she said.
Even the bustling IT business process management industry had acknowledged the key role that real estate firms play in providing office spaces within the metro and in developing untapped localities into thriving IT-BPM hubs.
Indeed, real estate firms have played a key role not only in the country’s economic growth, but also in nation building.
After all, these companies have, more importantly, helped enhance the lives of many Filipinos as the different developments they have built over the decades gave them a fair chance to improve their quality of living.
Megaworld Corp., one of the country’s biggest property developers headed by tycoon Andrew Tan, has proven to be one of the staunchest partners in nation building.
Proof of this is the company’s sustained thrust for innovative projects, which has been raising the bar for the industry, one development after another.
Megaworld currently has 21 integrated urban townships and one integrated lifestyle community.
Catalyst of growth
Jericho Go, senior vice president of Megaworld, pointed out that the company—amid a gloomy market grappling with the Asian financial crisis back in the ’90s—was unfazed to invest and develop a brand new industry that would become a catalyst of local economic growth.
He recalled that it started in 1997 when Megaworld made a bold move to research and develop a grand masterplan for two years that would be viable for Philippine setting.
This, he said, gave birth to the concept of an IT cyberpark at Eastwood City, which offered technologically equipped office towers and cheaper but qualified workforce to BPO and multinational companies.
“The phenomenal success of Eastwood City, for example, has spurred the growth of the nation’s economy as it generated a lot of job opportunities, increased dollar revenues, and reversed migration,” Go noted.
“It also changed the way Filipinos live, work, and play by offering residential condominiums near their work office and commercial establishments,” he further said.
Megaworld has a blueprint that allows a seamless integration of condominiums, malls, wellness centers, retail hotspots, high-end office towers, and even world-class learning institutions.
Urbanization, sustainability
According to Go, Megaworld was the first real estate company to introduce technologically equipped office towers that cater to the BPO sector and mutinational companies for their back offices.
“Megaworld was also the company to introduce the IT Park concept to Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). This concept was first introduced in Eastwood City to entice more BPO and multinational companies to set up their offices in the country due to tax holidays and other incentives and benefits it may offer once it was accredited,” he explained.
Go added that Megaworld has perfected its masterplan design by marrying urbanization and sustainability long before Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and other green initiatives were introduced in the country.
“It was earned through years of research and study in other countries before it was received by other local developers in the Philippines,” Go said.
“Through the seamless integration of office towers, residential condominiums and commercial establishments, the company managed to minimize the carbon footprint by bringing everything closer, encouraging stakeholders—residents, workers and visitors—to just walk from point A to point B. The streets are replete with rows of trees and garden landscape within the township to make it more breathable amid the urban landscape,” he explained.
Pioneering concepts
Go further disclosed that one of the biggest contributions of Megaworld to nation building was the pioneering of integrated urban townships in the Philippines to achieve a more sustainable living for Filipinos.
“It has a blueprint that allows the seamless integration of upscale condominiums, lifestyle malls, wellness centers, retail hotspots, high-end office towers, and even world-class learning institutions,” Go said.
“Due to the phenomenal success of building magnificent townships, Megaworld has become an icon and inspiration to other local property developers —simulating the same township principle that the company has been known for,” he added.
Megaworld continues to expand its brand portfolio to bring more innovative large-scale, master-planned mixed-use developments in the Philippines like Eastwood City in Libis Quezon City; Newport City in Pasay; McKinley Hill and Uptown Bonifacio in Fort Bonifacio; The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; and the Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao district, Iloilo City.
Future plans
Currently, Megaworld already has 21 integrated urban townships and one integrated lifestyle community.
However, the company is looking at further expanding its development portfolio in the provinces in the next 10 years as opportunities for economic growth look brighter and bigger outside of Metro Manila.
“In the next 10 years, the Philippines’ largest developer of integrated urban townships and the biggest lessor of office spaces will spend around P180 billion to develop its provincial townships alone, particularly those that have been already launched this year,” Go concluded.