Megaworld, BWDC tie up for P15-B Ft. Boni project

Property giant Megaworld Corp. and Bonifacio West Development Corp., a consortium led by the Rufino-Dupasquier group, have signed a memorandum of agreement for a joint venture project that will transform a five-hectare prime property in the Fort Bonifacio Global City into a mixed-use complex estimated to cost almost P15 billion.

The property is situated in a highly strategic location overlooking the Manila Golf and Country Club, a stone’s throw from the Manila Polo Club and the Forbes Park subdivision. Bonifacio West acquired the property from Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. in a P2.5-billion deal.

In a disclosure to the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, Megaworld said that under the agreement, it would build "a series of multi-story residential condominium buildings, most of which have excellent views of the Manila Golf and Country Club," within the property. Megaworld will also develop "a village town center consisting of restaurants and boutique shops to cater to residents of the community, including those from Forbes Park and Dasmarinas Village."

An important feature of the entire development will be an almost one-kilometer-long frontage directly facing the golf course. Total project cost is estimated to reach close to P15 billion. It is targeted for completion over a period of eight of 12 years.

The project, combining residential units and commercial space, will have an estimated floor area of 270,000 square meters. Some 12 to 16 residential condominium buildings are set for development in a number of phases. The village town center will offer close to 20,000 square meters of commercial space.

The first residential phase to be launched – called Forbeswood Heights – will be made up of six towers of luxury garden villas linked together by a lagoon-style pool, an outdoor tennis court and landscaped gardens in a lavish tropical resort setting, according to Megaworld vice president Rosemarie Cambaliza.

"The Megaworld-Bonifacio West joint venture serves as Megaworld’s entry point to the prestigious Fort Bonifacio Global City project," Cambaliza said.

"With Forbeswood Heights, we are offering our customers the best of both worlds: On the one hand, an existing high-end neighborhood that boasts of the famous Manila Golf and country Club, Manila Polo Club and Forbes Park and on the other, the 21st-century infrastructure and facilities of the Global City, an emerging alternative to the Makati central business district."

The large scale of the development will enable Megaworld to deliver to its clients luxury residential condominiums nestled amid lush tropical gardens and first-rate lifestyle amenities, Cambaliza said. "With this project, Megaworld is taking its clients to a new level of prestige and satisfaction."