Megaworld to hike P230-B 5-year spending program

MANILA, Philippines - Real estate giant Megaworld Corp. is likely to hike its five-year spending program that started last year as it intends to ramp up expansion of its retail portfolio.

Speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the 18th Outstanding Filipino Retailers & Shopping Centers of the Year Award by the Philippine Retailers Association Wednesday night, Megaworld chairman and chief executive officer Andrew Tan said the company would build at least 20 new malls and commercial centers across its existing and new townships over the next five to eight years.

 “These malls and commercial centers will primarily cater to the residential and BPO communities inside our townships,” he said.

Megaworld director for strategic marketing and communications Harold Geronimo said the property firm would “definitely be hiking its five-year capex.”

Megaworld announced last year it is spending P230 billion to develop its various existing townships until 2019.

The figure, however, is exclusive of the development costs for the new five townships that the company is launching this year as well as some of the mall it would soon introduce.

Aside from its upcoming mall developments, Megaworld said it is also expecting to reach at least one million population in its various urban townships by 2020.

Tan said its 20 townships across the country by 2020 would be home to around 600,000 condominium and village residents and 400,000 business process outsourcing (BPO) and office workers.

 “By 2020, we expect to increase our total population by 150 percent in all of our urban townships, which will reach at least one million,” Tan said.

At present, Megaworld has around 250,000 residents and 150,000 BPO and office workers in all of its existing townships.

Megaworld said the number of BPO workers comprises around 15 percent of the total BPO population in the country, which now stands at around 1.04 million.

Tan explained that the increase in population in its mixed-use communities “indicates the opportunities that await the company’s commercial and retail partners.”

Through the years, Megaworld has successfully built malls and commercial centers in each of its townships to primarily cater to the growing communities within its developments.

Among its malls and commercial centers include Eastwood Mall, Citywalk 1 & 2 and Cyber & Fashion Mall in Eastwood City; Newport Mall in Newport City; Venice Piazza and Tuscany in McKinley Hill and Lucky Chinatown in Binondo, Manila, among others.

New malls in Uptown Bonifacio and McKinley Hill, both in Fort Bonifacio, are expected to open within the year.