Megaworld to invest P25 billion for various projects in 2011

Property developer Megaworld Corp. on Tuesday disclosed that it would be spending P25 billion for its capital expenditures for the year. For the year's first five months, the Megaworld group, including Empire East and Suntrust brands, sold real estate projects worth P17 billion. The real estate company also said that it has launched its first project outside Metro Manila this year - the Iloilo Business Park. "The 55-hectare business park is located at the side of the old Iloilo airport, which the company acquired in 2007. The project features 300,000 square meters of office space and 200,000 square meters of hotel and retail space, designed to support business operations," Megaworld said. Also lined up for the second half of the year is the Bonifacio Uptown in Bonifacio Global City. The project is a mixed-use, high-density, 16-hectare development in the North Bonifacio central business district that extends all the way to Kalayaan Avenue, and is located near the British, Japanese and American International schools. "Megaworld will invest at least P25 billion to build Bonifacio Uptown over the next 12 years. The project offers close to 500,000 square meters of residential space, nearly 400,000 square meters of office space, and about 90,000 square meters of retail space," the company said. Meanwhile, the construction of the One Uptown Residence, with total potential revenues of P7.5 billion, at the Bonifacio Uptown will begin in 2013. The 12-billion Uptown Place will feature four office towers on top of a retail mall. Besides the residential, leisure, commercial and retail projects, Megaworld will also ramp up its office development efforts. "Its next-generation BPO offices and campus buildings are expected to help generate at least 120,000 new jobs," the company said. In April, Megaworld disclosed that it would be issuing $200-million corporate notes to refinance some of its debts and fund general corporate purposes. The company earlier said that its net income in 2010 reached an all-time high of P5.1 billion. For this year, Megaworld has also disclosed that it will be rolling out a home building program, targeting to construct 18,673 residential units with a total floor area of more than 830,000 square meters. -- CMA/OMG, GMA News