Megaworld eyes BCDA’s 45% stake in Global City

Megaworld Corp. will bid for the 45-percent equity stake of the state-owned Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) in Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC), the corporate vehicle for the conversion of the former military base into a premier central business district.

Megaworld executive vice-president Cirilo Manlangit said the company is interested in bidding for the entire interest of BCDA in FBDC in anticipation of the government’s asset divestment program.

"We’ll be bidding for it. We have the money," Manlangit stressed.

FBDC is now majority-owned by Ayala Land Inc. and the Campos-owned Greenfield Development Corp. after they assumed the $90-million outstanding loan of Metro Pacific Corp. from Larouge B.V. in exchange for a 50.4-percent interest in Bonifacio Land Corp., the private consortium holding 35 percent of FBDC.

Megaworld was earlier awarded by the BCDA the right to develop the 245, 966 square meter Villamor Gateway Center located inside the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City into a mixed-use complex.

Megaworld proposed an initial investment of P1.305 billion in the project that includes a committed cash payment to BCDA of P415.813 million over and above BCDA’s share in the future revenues of those areas to be developed under a joint venture arrangement.

The initial investment also includes P889.331 million in relocation and replication cost to clear the Villamor Gateway Center property preparatory to the start of full scale development work for w hich Megaworld will invest several billion pesos more in development cost.

The entire complex, with its strategic location near the domestic and international airports, will feature a business and technology park well-suited to the requirements of local and foreign investor-locators seeking to locate their facilities and operations close to the airports.

The project will also involve the development of residential and commercial buildings in addition to a mixture of institutional and community facilities.

Manlangit said Megawordl would push through with the relocation of certain structures within the Villamor Gateway Center to jumpstart the development of the project.

The development is expected to attract foreign investors, especially information technology companies that stand to benefit the most from the project’s pioneering concept and master plan as well as its state-of-the-art infrastructure and telecommunications systems.

Megaworld brings to the Villamor Gateway Center redevelopment a formidable track record as a master developer of larger-scale projects such as the 15-hectare Eastwood City, an emerging satellite business district home to the Eastwood City CyberPark, the country’s first ever information technology park.

The company had also signed an agreement with investment holding firm Alliance Global Group Inc. to jointly develop the 25-hectare Lawton Parkway in fort Bonifacio, Taguig into a residential, commercial, and institutional complex.

Under the memorandum of understanding, AGI and Megaworld will provide in equal contributions, financing for the development of the project as well as the payment of all guaranteed revenues to the BCDA.