Mabalacat hosts new industrial township in Central Luzon

Written by: Linda B. Bolido

The city that got its name from a Philippine hardwood, balakat, may soon be known as a major growth area and agricultural and commercial hub in Central Luzon.

Representatives from ALLHC and the Pampanga regional and local government toast to the success of Pampanga Technopark.

Mabalacat City, once a balakat forest in the province of Pampanga, is host to the first master-planned industrial township development of AyalaLand Logistics Holdings Corp. (ALLHC).

Envisioned to be a new growth center in Central Luzon and sprawling on 270 hectares of land, the Pampanga Technopark will consist of manufacturing and logistics locators, a bagsakan, or agricultural wholesale market, and commercial-retail spaces for social and recreational activities.

Still a work in progress, phases 1 and 2 have been registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) as Domestic Industrial Zones.

Gabriel Luis T. Sioson, ALLHC Head of Industrial Parks and Real Estate Logistics, said 69 of the 70 industrial lots in phases 1 and 2 had already been sold.

Phase 3 of the major development undertaking will follow next.

The 270-hectare Pampanga Technopark is ALLHC’s first master-planned industrial township in the region.

The Pampanga Technopark will offer facilities for shopping, dining and recreational spaces to bring new and vibrant lifestyle experiences to the communities working and residing within or around the area.

Some 2,000 square meters of gross leasable area across over 30 retail spaces will feature homegrown Kapampangan restaurants, plus several retail and service merchants.

Lots are also available for commercial uses, such as shops and outlets, medical centers, offices, co-working spaces, business hotels, etc. There will also be a variety of quick-service restaurants and a gas station.

Robert S. Lao, ALLHC President and Chief Executive Officer, said the new Mabalacat project would be a model for future Technoparks.

“ALLHC intends to implement the industrial township template moving forward. Our Technoparks will be anchored by our industrial phases and complemented by our mixed-use and commercial areas. We shall be implementing the same in our Batangas Technopark … in the municipality of Padre Garcia.”

The company intends for these development projects to become catalysts for growth, priming up areas where they would be located and promoting and hastening countryside development.

ALLHC held recently a Pampanga Technopark Appreciation Night to express its gratitude to the local government and other stakeholders for their support of the project. During the event, it also updated guests on the progress of the Technopark development.

Lao, in his speech, said the company hoped to help improve the supply chain in Luzon and help farmers and food producers facilitate the transport of their produce from farms to markets.

ALLHC hosts an Appreciation Night for locators, invetors, and partners of its Pampanga Technopark development.

As a bagsakan, or fresh produce destination, ALLHC will provide facilities, like cold and dry storage, to keep farm products as fresh as possible before they are moved to other places. The Technopark is almost halfway between farms in North and Central Luzon to major markets of Metro Manila, the main destination for farm produce.

“Pampanga Technopark (differs from other developments) with the construction of its own dry and cold storage facilities and integration of support facilities, such as the wholesale trade/bagsakan and strip retail within the Technoparks,” Lao said. “These developments, even at the early stage, show ALLHC’s confidence (that there will be a demand to be a part of) its Technoparks.”

He added that, in choosing sites, ALLHC conducted in-depth evaluation and assessment of public infrastructure, both current and future, proximity to various modes of transportation, as well as a competent labor pool.

The bagsakan will be complemented by ALLHC’s ALogis and ALogis Artico facilities, expected to be completed in the first half of 2024. The ALogis ready-built facilities will provide 8,000 square meters of warehouse space, while ALogis Artico cold storage will have 5,000 pallet positions with temperatures ranging from 10°C to -20°C.

Covering 3,000 square meters of space, the bagsakan will be both wholesale and retail markets for agricultural produce and local products. All components will support the agriculture supply value chain in Luzon.

Sioson gave the assurance that the bagsakan would not constrain the flow of produce to Metro Manila but would complement and enhance the current system for delivery of goods to the metropolitan markets.

The bagsakan, he said, would provide “another platform/avenue for farmers from Northern and Central Luzon to sell their fresh produce. Farmers and traders will be encouraged to utilize the planned dry and cold storage facilities to minimize food wastage. Likewise, the market will also target the institutional segments in need of fresh produce”.

He added that the complex would support residential areas in the neighborhood and create employment opportunities for locals.

Befitting a place that used to be forestland, sustainability is a major concern in the development of the Pampanga Technopark. Native trees will be planted throughout the complex and five water detention ponds have been strategically placed to help make the property resilient to environmental stress and geo-hazards.

Although the complex will also be a transportation hub, its road network will be designed to make walking and biking safe, convenient, preferable and enjoyable for everyone.

Patrick C. Avila, ALLHC Chief Operating Officer, in toasting the development project during the appreciation night, told guests that the Pampanga Technopark was started in 2019 “with the goal of expanding our industrial footprint . . . north of Metro Manila”.

In the two years since, Avila said, “[W]e’ve seen its potential to become more than just an industrial estate. And so, we’ve revised and fine-tuned plan after plan until we reached a concept that is a first for ALLHC – Pampanga Technopark as the first master-planned industrial township in Central Luzon that integrates agro hub, commercial and mixed-use components.”

ALLHC, a subsidiary of Ayala Land, Inc., is the leading industrial real estate company in the Philippines. It is present in seven growth areas nationwide through industrial parks, warehouses, cold storage facilities and commercial leasing.

ALLHC aims to create environments that energize and support businesses,

transform places into dynamic centers, develop world-class industrial parks and logistics facilities that are hubs of convergence and business activity.

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