Ortigas sets P3-billion capex budget

MANILA, Philippines -  Property developer Ortigas & Co. is spending about P3 billion this year for new and existing projects that include the facelift of its flagship Greenhills Shopping Center.

In an interview, Ortigas & Co. senior vice president and general manager Joey Santos told The STAR that about P1 billion will be spent this year for Viridian, the first luxury residential condominium development under the Greenhills makeover masterplan. Viridian is scheduled for turnover in the first quarter of 2015.

Viridian is part of Greenhills Shopping Center’s 20-year redevelopment plan that calls for better shopping, dining and entertainment experiences, and bringing back the “community gathering place” feel that has always been associated with Greenhills, he said.

Two other residential condominium projects and one office building will also be constructed as part of the new Greenhills masterplan, Santos added.

Under the ambitious Greenhills redevelopment project, the existing Gloria Maris restaurant will be transferred to a new building across Promenade by May of this year. The old Gloria Maris structure will be torn down and a new Unimart building will be put up, costing around P600 million to be spent this year.

Santos said the old Unimart building will give way to a new one that will house the expanded shopping center area, costing P500 million in two years’ time. This will double the current available shopping space in the place.

Also part of this year’s capital expenditure budget is the construction of a commercial/mall building costing about P1 billion at Capitol Commons, Ortigas & Co.’s newest multi-use development in Pasig.

Santos revealed that they are currently undertaking site development and road construction at Capitol Commons, located at the former site of the Rizal provincial capitol which was reverted back to the Ortigas family.

As for the Circulo Verde project in Quezon City, Santos disclosed that the first two residential towers — Majorca and Ibiza — are scheduled to be delivered by the end of this year. The company is allocating P500 million to complete the two towers this year.

Ortigas & Co., soon to be renamed Ortigas Holdings, is spending around P90 billion in the next 10 to 15 years more than P20 billion of which will be spent for the redevelopment of Greenhills Shopping Center (GSC), P25 billion for the development of Capitol Commons, P30 billion for Frontera Verde along C5 in Pasig, and more than P15 billion for Circulo Verde in Quezon City.