From racetrack to entertainment center: Ali unveils P20-B project

Philippine Star - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), which first made its name by building the Makati central business district (CBD), is spending P20 billion for an entertainment center in the country’s financial capital.

The 21-hectare Circuit Makati, formerly the Sta. Ana racetrack, will complete ALI’s mixed-use offerings in Makati amid the development of new business districts, the company’s top official said.

“We will be able to provide a very critical element that will be completing the story of Makati,” ALI president Antonino T. Aquino said in a briefing.

“Circuit is ALI’s 21-hectare integrated, mixed-use development anchored on entertainment experiences that brings together ALI’s various product lines — Alveo for residential, Ayala Malls and offices, and Ayala Hotels,” Aquino said.

Circuit Makati forms part of ALI’s P60-billion investment for six districts under its redevelopment program to maintain the competitiveness of the Makati CBD.

“The Circuit will be the entertainment center of Makati,” Aquino said, adding that it will be a dynamic urban hub in five years’ time.

Components of Circuit Makati are residential towers, office space, a shopping mall, a performing arts theater, events ground with a football field, and a lifestyle hotel.

Aquino said the property giant will start most of the project’s components in the next two years.

By 2016, around 80-90 percent of the property will be utilized for permanent or interim use that includes parking lots and pop-up food trucks, said Meann Dy, group head for ALI’s Strategic Landbank Management Group.

Specifically, the Circuit theater will have a capacity of 1,500 seats while the 600-meter Circuit Lane is an interactive walk with retail shops and restaurants.

Aquino said ALI will be introducing the “black box” concept that will be a venue for exhibits, music recitals, comedy shows, cocktail parties, product launches and workshops.

Circuit Makati will also have a two-hectare events ground for outdoor activities like football and skating.
ALI is already in talks with an international football club to put up a football school in the events ground, Aquino said.

For the commercial segment, ALI will build a mall with 45,000 square meters (sqm.) of gross leasing area (GLA) and an office space with 30,000 sqm. of GLA.

ALI will spend P1.5-2 billion for a 250-room lifestyle hotel that will carry the Seda brand.

ALI will also launch an Alveo residential tower next month, said Alveo Land president Robert Lao.

“The investment per tower is P2.5 billion,” Lao said, adding that the first condominium building will have 400-450 units in 40 storys.

The development of Circuit Makati will be spread out to 15-20 years, Aquino said.

For instance, there is a plan to have a total GLA of 100,000 sqm. for office space that will cater to the outsourcing sector, said Cora Dizon, head of ALI’s Commercial Business Development and Strategic Planning Group.

For the residential segment, ALI is looking at launching one tower per year to reach 8-10 towers in the next 10 years, Lao said.

While other conglomerates like JG Summit Holdings Inc. and SM Investment Corp. have joined the fray in the gaming segment particularly for casinos, ALI is focusing in its core business.

“There is no plan of gaming in this area. It will be more of family entertainment concepts,” Aquino said.
“On our side, we can sustain the high growth trajectory with the type of business we are currently in right now,” Aquino said.

In the nine months to September, ALI’s earnings reached P6.62 billion, up 27 percent from P5.23 billion a year ago on the back of the strong performance in all its business lines.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.ph.

ALI unit to build 4,000 hotel rooms in 2 yrs

The hotels and resorts arm of property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) plans to grow its portfolio to as much as 4,000 rooms nationwide in the next two years.

This will allow Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. to be a substantial contributor to the income of ALI, an executive said.

“We target 3,000 rooms within two years. We will be at that level of 3,000 to 4,000 rooms under planning or open already,” said Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts president Junie H. Jalandoni.

So far, the tourism and hospitality company has launched five hotels under the company-owned Seda brand.

The Seda urban lifestyle hotel in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig has 179 rooms while the 170-room hotel in Abreeza, Davao and another one in Nuvali, Laguna are scheduled to begin commercial operations in the first and fourth quarters this year, respectively.

The Seda Centrio Cagayan de Oro, on the other hand, will offer late this year 150 rooms located within the Centrio ALI mixed-use development that includes offices and retail.

Late last week, the tourism and hospitality company announced that it will spend P1.5 billion to P2 billion for a 250-room Seda lifestyle hotel in Circuit Makati entertainment complex.

Benchmark investment for each hotel is P1.5 billion to P2 billion, Jalandoni said.

“We need that in the Philippines if we are trying to grow the tourism business,” Jalandoni said.

The government, through the Department of Tourism, targets 10 million foreign tourists by 2016.

“The government is very helpful right now. They are promoting tourism,” Jalandoni said.

So far, the hotel portfolio of Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts include Intercontinental Manila, Cebu Marriott, El Nido Resorts, Raffles and Fairmont Makati and Seda Hotels.

The company will also introduce the Holiday Inns and Suites brand, Jalandoni said.

Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts wants a larger income contribution to ALI, which is also into shopping malls, office rental, residential development.

“We hope to contribute meaningfully to the whole portfolio,” Jalandoni said.

In the nine months to September, ALI’s earnings reached P6.62 billion, up 27 percent from P5.23 billion a year ago on the back of the strong performance in all its business lines.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.ph.

Ayala Land growing resort portfolio

Businessworld (January 13, 2013) – A UNIT of Ayala Land, Inc. plans develop more resorts as part of a target to offer as many as 4,000 rooms in two years, a top company official said late last week.

“We have other resort developments being planned and, at some point within this year, we will disclose more details on these,” Jose Emmanuel H. Jalandoni, president of AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts Corp., said in an interview last Friday on the sidelines of a briefing at Raffles Makati when asked about the unit’s expansion plans this year.

When asked for the locations of the planned new resorts, Mr. Jalandoni replied: “They will be all over: Mindanao, Luzon, Visayas.”

“We continue to grow this business because we believe in the tourism potential of the country,” Mr. Jalandoni said.

“The government is pushing tourism, but at the same time we find there is a need for more products to be out in the market.”

Ayala Land is a property company that is involved largely in residential and commercial developments. But it has also ventured into hotels and leisure-type projects via AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts.

So far, the Ayala Land unit has developed El Nido Resorts, an island resort complex in El Nido, Palawan, consisting of the Lagen, Milinoc, Apulit and Pangulasian Island Resorts.

“We have just opened Pangulasian. We soft-opened in last quarter of 2012,” Mr. Jalandoni said.

“It’s doing quite well, and we’re very happy with the development and the guests are very happy too.”

In November last year, Ayala Land President Antonino T. Aquino told reporters that Ayala Land is keen on acquiring as much as 1,000 square meters of beach and island properties in the Visayas in the next few years in order to expand the company’s growing tourism and leisure development portfolio, but he did not cite details.

Ayala Land also plans to open more hotels this year. “After CdO (Cagayan de Oro City), we’ll open Seda Davao in February, and then after that, Holiday Inn will open this March,” Mr. Jalandoni said.

Seda, formerly Kukun, is Ayala Land’s wholly owned boutique hotel brand. After launching Seda Bonifacio Global City last month, AyalaLand Hotels and Resorts said it planned to open Seda hotels in CdO, Davao, and Laguna from the end of 2012 to next year.

The 349-room Holiday Inn and Suites Makati in Ayala Center, meanwhile, is part of Ayala Land’s ongoing five-year redevelopment of Ayala Center in a bid to transform the five-hectare district into an integrated, mixed-use complex.

Ayala Land now targets to end 2015 with as many as 4,000 rooms in order to cash in on the country’s tourism potentials.

“We’re aiming for 3,000 to 4,000 units (rooms) in the next two years.

This is for both hotels and resorts. Some of this we’re still planning, and we haven’t announced all,” Mr. Jalandoni told reporters separately last Friday.

“Our biggest challenge is access to properties and infrastructure, but it’s good that the government is very supportive in these areas,” Mr. Jalandoni added. “We’re bullish because of the economy, and the government is very helpful right now in promoting tourism…”


Ayala Land shares lost 75 centavos to P25.85 apiece on Friday last week.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.ph.

Philippines’ Ayala to build new business district

Inquirer - The real estate arm of Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Tuesday it planned to create another major business district in Manila after casting the highest bid for a government property.

Ayala Land offered P24.33 billion ($579 million), more than two other real estate firms, for the Food Terminal industrial estate, the company and government officials said.

The 74-hectare (183-acre) property is located near major government highways and will become “the southern gateway” to Manila, Ayala Land said.

The company will develop the area in a manner similar to the upscale housing, office, hotel and shopping mall projects it has set up in other parts of the capital and across the country, Ayala Land spokesman Jorge Marco said.

“It’s going to be another business district and it will have all our product lines: residential, retail, office and hotels,” he said.

Ayala Land’s bid exceeded the floor price of P10.2 billion for the property, said Melinda Cortez, marketing chief of the government’s privatization office.

She described it as the biggest government privatization effort in years.

However, the government’s economic ministers must still study the bid for 60 days to see if it meets all financial and legal qualifications before declaring Ayala Land the winner, Cortez added.

The estate, formerly a major government food processing facility, is now an industrial estate where warehouses, offices and stores are already operating.

The Philippine government tried to sell off the facility in 2009 but failed to attract enough bidders.


For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Ayala wins FTI auction

BUSINESSWORLD - AYALA LAND, INC. (ALI) was named the highest bidder as a Food Terminal, Inc. (FTI) auction finally pushed through yesterday, with the developer’s P24.331-billion tender surpassing offers made by two other leading property firms.

With prior attempts since the ’90s having failed, the Privatization and Management Office (PMO) claimed the sale, which it described as a success, had been helped by a rosy investment climate and optimism in the government.

The ALI bid was more than double the government’s P10.248-billion base price for 74 hectares of the 103-hectare industrial complex.

Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. had the second-highest offer of P14.667 billion, while Andrew L. Tan-controlled Empire East Land Holdings had the lowest bid of P11.248 billion.

Four other real estate giants -- Gotianun-led Filinvest Land, Inc., Sy-led SM Land, Inc., as well as Rockwell Land Corp. and Century Properties Group, Inc. -- that had prequalified for the auction did not submit tenders.

FTI is one of the largest industrial lots in Metro Manila and it lies in a prime location in Taguig City, near the South Luzon Expressway and the end of the C-5 highway. Given its proximity to major thoroughfares, ALI hopes to develop the sprawling property into another central business district (CBD). The firm already holds a portfolio of CBDs in the cities of Makati, Taguig, Quezon and Cebu.

"The property will be the southern gateway into Metro Manila, similar to our Vertis North, our northern gateway development," ALI Chief Finance Officer Jaime E. Ysmael yesterday said in a statement.

"With these two developments, we are now well positioned to capitalize on the development opportunities of these two growth centers, supplemented by the government’s planned intermodal transport system," he added.

"Just as we envision Vertis North to be the first transit-oriented CBD in the north, FTI will serve the same purpose for the south."

Despite the whopping P24-billion bid, he claimed that FTI was acquired at a "significant discount," especially given land values in nearby Makati and Bonifacio Global City.

Privatization officials were visibly relieved at the success of yesterday’s auction. The last sale attempt in 2009 failed after the deadline for the submission of offers lapsed without any bids. Sale plans were likewise scrapped in 2010 due to unfavorable market conditions arising from the global financial crisis.

"The investment climate today is positive, with our resilience from the global economic downturn and the dip in borrowing costs for corporations," PMO Chief Privatization Officer Karen G. Singson told reporters.

The private sector is also optimistic given the government’s dedication to transparent bid procedures, she claimed. The auction took roughly six hours as the PMO checked all bid documents in front of the prospective investors.

"We are very happy not just with the ALI bid, but more importantly, with its payment stream," Ms. Singson said.

ALI pledged an upfront payment of P19.465 billion by the closing of the auction. The remainder will be paid a year after.

"This is the upside we wanted for the government: immediate development in that area. We hope to see increased employment, access and transportation once Ayala begins its work," Ms. Singson said.

The government should also expect a kick in its revenues this year because of the privatization, Ms. Singson said. At least half of the sale proceeds will go to the National Treasury, particularly the funds for the Agriculture and Agrarian Reform departments. The other half will go to FTI for the payment of its liabilities.

Tax collections should also benefit with the taxes due on ALI’s upfront payment, which will be pegged on zonal values.

Julius M. Guevara, associate director of property consultancy firm Colliers International Philippines, lauded the FTI sale and called it a win-win situation both for ALI and the government.

"The FTI acquisition is a significant win for Ayala Land since it further bolsters their land bank. The substantial spread above the minimum bid is also strategic, since it allows them to secure the property and also deprives their competitors of the opportunity to develop one of the last parcels of land of this size close to Manila’s CBDs," Mr. Guevara said in an e-mail.

"This is also a huge success for the government, which after lowering their minimum bid probably did not expect to receive a bid as high as they did today," he continued.

The government had considered a P13-billion price tag last year.

FTI is the first major government asset to be privatized under the Aquino administration. The PMO will now conduct one final review of ALI’s bid documents and requirements before it endorses the offer to the Privatization Council.

This post-qualification process should be concluded in five business days, Ms. Singson said. The notice of award should also be issued to the firm in the next 15 business days. Formal turnover will come no later than Dec. 31 this year.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.

Avida takes flight to better preserve heritage, habitat

Avida is soaring to great heights to save its own kind.

Literally, that is, as the Philippine Eagle Foundation named a 12-year-old eagle under its care “Avida” after forging an agreement with high-quality property developer Avida Land Corp.

Under this memorandum of agreement signed between the two parties, Avida Land has formalized its commitment to support the foundation’s efforts to help save the Philippine eagle and its habitat.

If all goes well, “Avida” is expected to mature and be able to bear eagles of her own to help continue the line of Philippine eagle species.

While the Ayala Land subsidiary is in the business of providing quality homes to the hardworking Filipinos, Avida Land is also very much aware of the need to help provide all inhabitants of this planet a sustainable home—and that means not only the people, but all other forms of life as well.

Corporate sponsor

As such, Avida Land deemed that it was only right for the company to enter into such an agreement and serve as one of the corporate sponsors of the Philippine Eagle Foundation in a concentrated bid to protect this critically endangered species.

The Philippine eagle, according to Avida Land, is considered to date as one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world.

The company explained: “It is also one of the rarest of all eagle species, found only in the forests of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Unfortunately, the destruction of forests threatens these raptors’ existence. The Philippine eagle is critically endangered and there are only about 500 pairs left in the wild.”

Under the said agreement, Avida Land has specifically committed to support the foundation for the next three years to help breed Philippine eagles at the PEF sanctuary. The said sponsorship will also include efforts to educate the public on the importance of the Philippine eagle to Davao’s ecosystem and to the country’s national heritage.

“Avida Land’s contribution will be spent on the care, maintenance and monitoring of nests of eagle chicks in the wild, including their daily feeding and veterinary care. Part of it will also go to other support programs of the PEF,” the company said.

“Avida’s partnership with the PEF is part of our overall commitment for sustainable development wherever there is an Avida property,” it added.

Sustainability practice by its parent company, Ayala Land, means building communities that meet the needs of customers; create benefits that last through generations; and, offer environment-friendly products and design that uplift the lives of people in and around them.

For Ayala Land, the ultimate end of sustainability is nation-building. As such, the company ensures that sustainability is integrated into everything it does: from the choice and acquisition of land, to how it master plans communities and townships; to the design and construction of its properties.

Similarly, Avida Land claims that all its developments are also master planned to ensure that these structures are sustainable, energy-efficient and environmentally sound.

Commitment

And as Avida Land expands its reach in the Visayas and Mindanao, it has committed to continue its pursuit of sustainability for all its property developments. Avida has already sold out its Avida Towers Cebu while Avida Towers Riala, also in Cebu, was recently launched.

Currently, Avida is developing the Centrio Tower in Cagayan de Oro; house and lot projects in Iloilo and Bacolod; and it will soon begin its first property project in Davao.

As of the first half of 2012, Avida Land has a total of 46 projects in 22 unique locations. Avida homes are all beautifully and practically designed, can be acquired through flexible payment terms, and built to provide reliable performance over time. Avida means affordable living at its best.

For more than 20 years, Avida has focused on enriching the lives of the hardworking Filipino middle-class by offering their families a home to be proud of. These are homes that thrive in a peaceful and safe community and are accessible to public transportation.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.ph.

Philippines' Ayala to build new business district

AFP - The real estate arm of Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Tuesday it planned to create another major business district in Manila after casting the highest bid for a government property.


Ayala Land offered 24.33 billion pesos ($579 million), more than two other real estate firms, for the Food Terminal industrial estate, the company and government officials said.

The 74-hectare (183-acre) property is located near major government highways and will become "the southern gateway" to Manila, Ayala Land said.

The company will develop the area in a manner similar to the upscale housing, office, hotel and shopping mall projects it has set up in other parts of the capital and across the country, Ayala Land spokesman Jorge Marco said.

"It's going to be another business district and it will have all our product lines: residential, retail, office and hotels," he said.

Ayala Land's bid exceeded the floor price of 10.2 billion pesos for the property, said Melinda Cortez, marketing chief of the government's privatisation office.

She described it as the biggest government privatisation effort in years.

However the government's economic ministers must still study the bid for 60 days to see if it meets all financial and legal qualifications before declaring Ayala Land the winner, Cortez added.

The estate, formerly a major government food processing facility, is now an industrial estate where warehouses, offices and stores are already operating.

The Philippine government tried to sell off the facility in 2009 but failed to attract enough bidders.

For more details on Ayala Land's projects, you may e-mail reby_ramirez@yahoo.com or contact her at 0922.883.9308 / 0916.4044.555 / 0919.699.3572 / 4044-534.

For latest update on real estate development and its RA 9646, the Real Estate Service Act of 2009, visit www.ra9646.com.