Alphaland in talks with foreign buyers for sale of Alphaland Tower

MANILA, Philippines - Upscale property developer Alphaland Corp. of former Trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin is back to the negotiating table for the sale of the P8.6-billion Alphaland Tower along Ayala Avenue.

Alphaland is in talks with numerous foreign firms after negotiations with the PLDT Group for the prime office building fell through, an official said.

“Our direction is really to sell the building. There are people who are interested,” said Alphaland president Mario Oreta, adding that the company is talking to several foreign companies from Singapore and Malaysia.

Oreta said the deal for Pangilinan-led Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. to buy Alphaland Tower for P8 billion is off.

The 34-story Alphaland Tower along Ayala Avenue is the newest premium grade office building in the Makati central business district. It is also the only pre-certified Grade-A tower of its kind.

With fresh negotiations in the works, Alphaland is back to its original selling price of P8.5-8.6 billion, Oreta said.

“Right now, we are back to our asking price of $200 million. We’re talking to a lot of foreign companies,” Oreta said.

Alphaland Tower, which has a gross floor area of 48,000 square meters, is divided into three zones: the 14-story low zone, the 13-storey high zone and the three-story penthouse. It also has a five-level basement parking.

“We’re not leasing it out yet because we don’t want to handcuff the buyer who might want the entire thing for himself,” Oreta said.

“We can hold it like that, wait for the right buyer to come along and then sell the whole building because we have other projects to take care of,” he said.

Designed by Hong Kong-based architects Wong & Ouyang, the Alphaland Tower has earned a pre-certified Gold rating from the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system.

Alphaland, which is into high-end leisure developments catering to the affluent, is a joint venture between London-based private equity fund Ashmore Group and RVO Capital Ventures.

The company was incorporated in May 2007, with the Alphaland Southgate Tower and Mall at the corner of EDSA and Chino Roces Avenue in Makati City as its first completed project.

Alphaland is the company behind the P2-billion Alphaland Marina Club and the 32-hectare Bay City development along Manila Bay, the P4-billion Balesin Island Club in Quezon province, and the Alphaland City Club in Makati central business district.