Ayala Land to develop UP property along Katipunan

MANILA, Philippines –  The University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) is slated to get upgraded equipment and facilities for its high school department later this year as plans for its long-anticipated transfer to the main campus become concrete.

UPIS high school has always been separated from the UP Diliman (UPD) campus by Katipunan Avenue. When the busy road was developed into what has come to be known as C-5, the school’s safety and security problems escalated. Only last December, a vehicular accident caused serious injury to high school students who were crossing the road at the height of the University’s Christmas festivities.  It was decided that continued use of this isolated land parcel by UPIS high school was unreasonable.

The UPIS administration and its mother unit, the College of Education (COE), doubled efforts to transfer the high school into the Education complex within the UPD campus. A relocation site beside the COE was identified for the purpose.

The project went through a stringent bidding procedure. Out of the five bidders who indicated intention to participate in the bidding process, three large development companies – Ayala Land, SM Land, and Robinsons Land – were prequalified. These bids were rigorously evaluated by separate technical and financial evaluation panels. In the end, Ayala Land topped both evaluations and won the bid to develop the 7.4-hectare property.

The project, now known as the East Campus Development Project, will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 will involve the construction of new high school building in the present site of a condemned dormitory called “Narra”. This phase will entail upgrading the facilities of the school’s lower years. Phase 2 will involve the construction of a University-themed mixed-use retail and office complex in the vacated UPIS high school site meant to cater to the University community and other academic communities along Katipunan. Students, faculty and staff can look forward to a University bookstore, dining and meeting venues, and other academic support facilities.

According to UP Vice President for Development Armin Sarthou, Jr., the project caps several major thrusts of former UP President Emerlinda Roman’s ten-point agenda, more specifically the “aggressive pursuit of resource generation and mobilization programs”, which in turn will allow the University to “upgrade faculty, staff, and student welfare benefits” and subsequently strengthen UP’s position as the leading research and development university.

All told, the project will run for 25 years, and will generate revenues for the University during the lease period.