Ortigas sets P30-B expansion plan

MANILA, Philippines - The shopping centers division of Ortigas-led OCLP Holdings Inc. has outlined a nearly P30-billion expansion plan for its existing and new retail complexes.

The long-term program will allow the company to continuously grow its revenues as it taps existing customers in and out of its township projects.

Cathy Casares-Ko, general manager of the shopping center division of OCLP, said the redevelopment and expansion of the 30-year-old Greenhills shopping complex accounts for bulk of the capital requirements.

This includes the P4.8-billion, 53-story Viridian residential tower that will be ready for occupancy in 2017.

Other projects in the 16-hectare Greenhills shopping center include more and newer dining, shopping and entertainment centers adding 160,000 square meters (sqm.) to the complex. The retail offerings will be complemented with underground parking, open spaces and canopied walkways.

OCLP Holdings, formerly Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partners, will also increase the available space in Estancia at Capitol Commons in Pasig by 31,000 sqm.

Casares-Ko said the project will require P2.7 billion to introduce a high-end shopping center and 16,712 sqm of office space starting the third quarter next year.

For the three-hectare Tiendesitas at Frontera Verde, OCLP Holdings will spend P740 million to double the retail area and introduce an upscale feel by 2015, she said.

Lastly, the property developer has launched Industria, a 7,000-sqm. urban retail center that will be built in the Circulo Verde township project in Quezon City.

“There will be retail [shops], mostly food and beverage tenants with a supermarket as an anchor,” Casares-Ko said.

To date, the shopping centers division of OCLP Holdings is into retail commercial property development, regular and special leasing, and operations and property management.

Casares-Ko said the long-term retail center developments will allow the shopping centers division to continue accounting for half of the revenues of the property developer.

The Ortigases, whose historic roots date back to the 300-year Spanish colonial rule, are among the largest landowners in the country. They developed upscale residential subdivisions Valle Verde and Wack-Wack ,as well as the 77-unit Luntala townhouse project within Valle Verde 6.