Megaworld to put up P600-M office building in Newport City

Megaworld Corp. has set aside P600 million for the construction of an eight-story office building within Newport City in Pasay.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Megaworld said the office building will feature state-of-the-art infrastructure geared to meet the requirements of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.

The building, which recently broke ground, is slated for completion by the first quarter of 2008.

Newport City is located in a 25-hectare property near the Villamor golf course in Pasay City. The project involves the development of a hotel, retail and entertainment complex, and the construction of office buildings for BPO firms.

Newport City, a joint venture between Megaworld and the Bases Conversion Development Authority, is expected to generate P150 million in recurring income a year from an airport hotel and retail and commercial operations.

Funding for the project will come from the company’s recent $100-million bond issue.

Riding on the continued robust growth of the call center business, Megaworld will build around 400,000 square meters of BPO-ready office space over the next five years in Eastwood City, Mckinley Hill and Newport City.

For this year, Megaworld is building two call center buildings. Once completed, these structures would raise the company’s BPO leasable space to 105,000 square meters.

Megaworld is a leading property developer that focuses on the middle-to-high-end residential and office markets. Its flagship development is Eastwood City in Libis, a 15-hectare cyberpark and mixed-use project.

The company’s other big-ticket township or residential projects include the 50-hectare McKinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City, Manhattan Garden City in Araneta Center, Cubao, and the P15-billion Forbes Town Center, a joint development with the Bonifacio West Development Corp.

Mckinley Hill will comprise a residential subdivision, low-rise condominiums and a commercial center. The project is a 50-50 joint venture with George Yang’s Alliance Global Group Inc.