Ayala, LT Group embark on joint township dev’t

As published in The Philippine Star on December 5, 2016

Ayala Corp. and LT Group Inc. (LTG), two of the country's biggest conglomerates, are set to launch in the first half of next year their biggest joint project to date, a mixed­-use 35­-hectare estate development along the C­5 corridor, spanning Quezon City and Pasig.

The project is a 50-­50 joint venture between Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) and LTG's Eton Properties, ALI's top official said.

ALI is the property development arm of the Ayala Group while LTG is the holding company of taipan Lucio Tan for his investments in airlines, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, banking and property. "We're going to launch in the first half of next year. It will be both in Quezon City and in Pasig," ALI president Bernard Dy told The STAR in a recent interview. He said both parties are now finalizing the masterplan for the mixed­-use project, which will have residential and commercial spaces.

The estate, which is envisioned to be the greenest waterfront development in eastern Metro Manila, will have more than 50 percent of open space comprising of "pocket parks." Dy said there would be a wide array of product lines ­ residential, office and commercial. "It will be broad-­based. We're going to see all our product lines," Dy said.

The plan also includes the construction of "an iconic bridge" over the famed Marikina River to connect both parcels of the estate in the two cities. The sprawling 35­-hectare project is comprised of a 30-­hectare property in Pasig, which is owned by LTG's Eton and a five-­hectare land in Quezon City owned by ALI. It is accessible from Amang Rodriguez in Pasig and C­5 in Libis, Quezon City.

In all, the estate's gross floor area (GFA) is estimated at 1.77 million square meters. It will be developed in at least two phases, with the first phase to be launched starting in 2017 to 2021.

Dy expressed optimism on the project, saying the Philippines' robust economy ­ 7.1 percent growth in the third quarter of the year ­ would be supportive of growth in the property sector. "The market continues to be good and robust. Primarily, it's because we have a very strong economic growth," Dy said. He noted this strong economic growth has been supportive of both the property and tourism industries.

In a disclosure announcing the deal early this year, Tan, chairman of LTG, said the project would be a perfect addition to the growing portfolio of Eton Properties. "We believe that this is an excellent partnership that will enable us to build an outstanding mixed-­use development which will offer a wide range of property investment and lifestyle options to customers," Tan said.

In the nine months to September this year, ALI reported a P15.06 billion net income from P12.83 billion a year ago on the back of consolidated revenues of P85.49 billion during the period or 14 percent higher than the P75.05 billion a year ago.

Eton Properties, meanwhile, reported a bottom line of P249 million for the first three quarters of 2016, 26 percent more than the P197 million generated in the same period in 2015.