The city in Manny Villar’s mind

More than a lifetime ago, the Makati business district that we know today was nothing but a sprawling and dull expanse of earth covered mostly with cogon grass.

In the 50s and long before, Escolta in Manila was the thriving center of commerce. Pre-war saw it lined with merchants and merchandise, art deco-style structures and later on, the Manila Stock Exchange.

Everything changed when the 1945 Battle of Manila happened. It ripped through the heart and soul of a young republic, destroying cities including the capital and the once bustling district of Escolta.

The postbellum period that followed saw a lot of rebirth and rebuilding.

Joseph McMicking, a Manila-born man of Scottish-Spanish-Filipino descent, saw the potential of a 1,600-hectare hacienda in what was then called San Pedro de Macati, as a new place for commerce. The land was unfit for agriculture and it seemed too distant from Manila but McMicking, a trained pilot who would become an executive in his wife Mercedes Zobel’s family business, Ayala y Compañia, now known as Ayala Corp., saw the land’s potential as a new business hub.

The city existed only in McMicking’s mind but Ayala made a bet on it and Makati was born. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fast forward to today, 70 years since the Makati business district was born, and the country’s richest tycoon, Manuel B. Villar Jr. or MBV, is creating a new boom town in the south, betting on people’s endless need for land. He calls it Villar City.

It will be a sprawling new city suited for the 21st century, MBV tells me in a chat in his new and elegant Brittany Hotel – nestled perfectly in Villar City in Daang Hari Road in Bacoor, Cavite.

Decongesting Metro Manila

I am all for decongesting Metro Manila. The capital region, as we all know, is already bursting at the seams.

The traffic in Makati and at Bonifacio Global City can also be impossibly horrendous at times.

Filipinos should all be given options to live and work outside our already congested cities but without feeling isolated or thrown away into the fringes.

It’s not to say that Villar City will be the answer to all these problems but it could certainly be an option if we want to decongest Metro Manila.

A new city for the 21st century

Makati, MBV said, was a product of its time. It responded to a need in the 1950s when it was developed. But, he said, it’s now a good time to have a new business district.

“Today, I want to build a city meant for this century,” said MBV, the country’s richest man.

What this means is a smart city with wide roads, modern systems, hi-tech telecommunications facilities, plus a whole lot of greenery.

And when it comes to space, MBV has a lot of it. Villar City has a size of 3,500 hectares, spanning 15 towns and cities in Metro Manila and Cavite.

A new enclave for the country’s richest

While Makati has posh and uber exclusive residential enclaves, MBV said Villar City will have Forresta, a development with an “ultra-exclusive residential district.”

Forresta is the first phase of Villar City’s central business district, envisioned to rise amid a million lush trees but complete with all the necessities of modern living.

At present, the Villar Group is already offering exclusive lots to the well-heeled crowd.

Forresta’s residential district component, which is being developed by the Villar Group’s Brittany, covers roughly 20 hectares and the sizable lots up for grabs range from some 850 square meters to 1,400 sqm.

The rest of the Forresta central business district will have high-resident developments and commercial strips, which MBV said will be surrounded by forests.

Golf course and other amenities

There will be amenities, too and playgrounds for young and old alike. Two sprawling 18-hole golf courses, for instance, are part of the plan.

MBV also wants a world-class concert venue that can accommodate, for example, a crowd as big as a Taylor Swift crowd, although he was quick to add in jest that by the time this concert hall is all finished, Swift may no longer be the craze.

He also plans to put up an opera house, a theater venue, museums and schools and universities, including a University of the Philippines campus.

On my way back home after our chat, I saw the sprawling lot where the exclusive gated Forresta village will rise. It looks promising because the land is elevated and undulating.

Perched on a nearby hill-like area is Forresta Cafe, a quaint cafe and restaurant which exudes a ranch vibe. It was filled with diners when I visited. I was told MBV likes to enjoy his afternoons there, perhaps sipping coffee or a cold beverage while watching the sun set.

But MBV, who is in his early 70s, admits that it will take years before this city in his mind will come to life, although there are already developments worth visiting within this rising mixed-used estate, including Brittany Hotel and the Forresta Cafe.

He said Villar City may not be completed in his lifetime but for sure, it will be his legacy project. He is optimistic that with our growing population and the ever evolving preferences of Filipinos for better and bigger spaces, there will always be strong demand for land.

*      *      *

Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.