Ortigas & Co.: 80 years of refreshing the urban landscape

MANILA, Philippines - Premier property developer OCLP Holdings Inc. (Ortigas & Co.) recently marked its 80th year anniversary in an elaborate celebration at Decagon, Frontera Verde.

Gracing the event with some 400 guests were Ignacio and Jaime Ortigas with their families, representatives of the San Juan local government, Mayor Guia Gomez, Vice Mayor Francis Zamora and Rep. JV Ejercito, and longstanding business partners of OCLP such as Peter Ng of Unimart and Precy Florentino of the Music Museum Group.

Ortigas & Co. is among the pioneers in large-scale, integrated, and mixed-use development. The firm developed residential subdivisions, shopping centers, office buildings, the Ortigas Business District, and has taken on near top of mind in terms of quality and value for money spaces.

It developed some of the most posh villages in Pasig and San Juan, including Valle Verde, Greenmeadows, the Greenhills Subdivisions, as well San Juan’s most loved lifestyle destination, the Greenhills Shopping Center. In 2009, it set forth the construction of Circulo Verde, a 12-hectare, mixed-used, master-planned community in Bagumbayan, Quezon City.

During the anniversary celebration, senior vice president and GM of Real Estate Division, Joey Santos, unveiled the company’s plan of developing Capitol Commons, which will house a high-end shopping mall dubbed Estancia, five movie theaters, the second branch of Unimart, and five residential towers.

Ortigas has also set the ball rolling for the redevelopment of Greenhills Shopping Center, which was headed by GM for Shopping Center Division Cathy Casares-Ko for the last nine years. It aims to provide a bigger and better experience for shoppers with new restaurants, cinemas, parking spaces.

Tiendesitas, located at Frontera Verde and constructed by Ortigas to showcase the best of Philippine products from all regions, will soon undergo a major expansion. Several BPO buildings will be developed and will add to the existing lineup of lifestyle and business destinations within Frontera Verde like Fun Ranch, Ark Avilon, Silver City, and Transcom Center.

The future looks bright for Ortigas. Newly appointed president and chief executive officer Rowell Recinto says that the company has a renewed vigor to facilitate a fast-paced urban transformation, and it is oriented towards building for the future while harvesting past successes.