Empire East sets P25-B, 5-year capex

MANILA, Philippines - Empire East Land Holdings Inc. is allotting P25 billion in capital expenditures in the next five years as it continues to expand its footprint, its top official said.

The P25 billion or roughly P5 billion a year covers investments in the company’s planned Empire East City, a landmark mixed-used development that is seen to replicate the success of Eastwood City, said Empire East president Anthony Charlemagne Yu.

In a recent interview with The STAR, Yu said Empire East City will rise in the Pasig-Cainta area and would cover more than 15 hectares of development.

“The Empire East City is a city within a city in the Pasig-Cainta area, It’s bigger than Eastwood. Eastwood is 15 hectares. This is being master planned. It’s such a huge development and will include a lot of things,” he said.

He said the company is now in the process of finalizing the master plan for the project. The final investment plan is also being determined.

“After the master planning, we will have to test the market to see if we can launch this in 2016 or 2017. It’s going to be like Eastwood. We would have a big mall in the area. We would also have some offices. There will be many things,” he said.

Yu noted that Eastwood used to be just a barren land filled with tall grass and some factories but it was able to gentrify the entire urea.

“So we hope to be able to do the same in Empire East City,” he said.

Among the options the company is looking at is to have business process outsourcing (BPO) offices in the Empire East City.

Aside from Empire East City, the company owned by tycoon Andrew Tan has several other projects in the pipeline.

The company is presently finalizing the plans for the four-tower The Paddington Place in a prime property along Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City and a multi-tower high-rise condominium project on the property which is presently occupied by Broadway Centrum near Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City.

These upcoming projects would have their own shopping malls, recreational facilities and other amenities. They will also be accessible to mass transport systems, Yu said.

“We are also very active in looking for properties outside Metro Manila in order to replicate our successes in Sta. Rosa, Laguna with our Laguna Bel Air and The Sonoma,” Yu also said.