Aboitiz Group envisions worker-centered central business district in Batangas
Upscale office towers and the rush-hour crowds that fill them are often associated with central business districts (CBDs), key economic centers that have long been synonymous with places like Makati and Bonifacio Global City.
But in Batangas, a unit of the Aboitiz Group is developing a different kind of CBD: one built around factories rather than financial institutions, and with a blueprint that has workers of all types in mind.
“We’re really trying to be a solution for the base of the pyramid,” says Rafael Fernandez de Mesa, president and CEO of Aboitiz Economic Estates and Aboitiz Land, in an interview with the Inquirer. “We’re not trying to be BGC or Makati.”
Unlike Metro Manila’s business districts, the growth of LIMA Estate is anchored on manufacturing.
Spanning 1,100 hectares across Lipa City and Malvar, the development hosts around 200 multinational manufacturers and is the largest privately owned industrial estate in the Philippines. It supports roughly 75,000 jobs, including those at major locators such as Epson Precision Philippines and Yamaha Motor Philippines.
About 80 percent of LIMA’s area is allocated to factories and industrial facilities, while commercial and residential developments account for 10 percent each.
“LIMA is the economic engine of that area … Industry is the main land use and the catalyst,” De Mesa says. “We do complement it with other uses such as commercial districts, housing, leisure—and we are now beginning to evolve even further.”
That evolution has accompanied rapid expansion of the estate. A decade ago, LIMA had around 50 operating companies and 20,000 workers. Today, it hosts about 130 operating firms, with dozens more in various stages of planning and construction.
Housing workers
As the industrial base expanded, Aboitiz found that one of the biggest challenges was not attracting more businesses, but supporting the workers those companies needed. To address that, the company began investing in housing.
Its first dormitory project, The Pods at LIMA Estate, provides 612 beds for employees of Epson Precision Philippines and Furukawa Automotive Systems. Rent is set at P1,934 per bed monthly, and the project was fully leased even before construction began in 2023.
De Mesa says the project was designed partly to address long daily commutes faced by factory workers.
“Sometimes these employees would spend two hours each way. That’s not a dignified way to live,” he says.
Beyond the dormitory, Aboitiz is developing a broader residential strategy aimed at workers in different stages of life.
The company is building The Villages at LIMA Estate, a 49-hectare residential community expected to deliver around 1,700 housing units across Brook Village, Sierra Village and Meadow.
More than 400 residential units have already been turned over at the 17-hectare Brook Village and the 18-hectare Sierra Village.
This growing concentration of factories and workers has, in turn, created demand for services more commonly associated with urban business districts. That demand gave rise to Biz Hub, a 70-hectare commercial district at the center of LIMA Estate.
According to De Mesa, the district serves two markets: the estate’s workforce and a wider population stretching beyond Lipa and Malvar to neighboring cities and municipalities such as Santo Tomas, Tanauan and Alaminos.
Together, those areas represent nearly 1.8 million people within a 25- to 45-minute drive.
One of Biz Hub’s largest components is The Outlets at LIMA Estate, a 9.3-hectare outdoor lifestyle mall with 29,000 square meters of leasable space. The development draws between 16,000 and 18,000 visitors on weekdays and as many as 22,000 on weekends.
Nearby is LIMA Exchange, a 2.7-hectare transport and commercial hub that houses essential retail services while serving as the main transportation center. The facility was 99-percent leased as of January.
Another transportation solution embedded in the area is RedLink, a fully electric intra-estate transport network connecting industrial zones, residential communities and commercial areas through scheduled routes.
“We want to eliminate the need for people to have to move through vehicles,” De Mesa says.
Talent pipeline
Aboitiz is not stopping at addressing the needs of today’s workforce. It is also investing in the talent pipeline that it believes will sustain long-term growth of the estate.
This year, Batangas State University will open an interim campus within LIMA Estate, expected to accommodate an inaugural batch of around 800 engineering first-year students. A permanent 10-hectare campus is also planned within the development.
The university will offer specialized engineering programs as well as graduate degrees in artificial intelligence, data science and advanced manufacturing.
“We’re not putting education facilities to sell houses,” De Mesa says. “We’re putting education facilities to create talent, to create jobs, to attract investment.”
More than 130 companies are already operating within the estate, while around 25 facilities are under construction and additional projects remain in various stages of planning.
As those investments come online, De Mesa says the workforce is expected to grow from about 75,000 today to around 100,000 within the next three years.
