WITH the planned development of an 11-hectare property in Balintawak, Quezon City into a mall, hotels and a hospital, city administrator Aldrin Cuña on Friday stressed the need to modernize the Cloverleaf market to maintain its competitiveness.
In an interview, Cuña said the city government backs the ongoing development of the modern state-of-the art Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Avida Cloverleaf Tower 2, Qualimed Hospital, Avida Cloverleaf Tower 1 and office complexes that could spur economic growth in the area, create more job opportunities and generate revenues for the city.
However, he advised Balintawak Cloverleaf market lawyer-owner, Rodolfo de Guzman, to “catch up with the development of Balintawak area.”
“If Balintawak market will not upgrade its building and facilities, it will be rendered obsolete by the development,” Cuña told the Manila Standard.
He said the old Balintawak Cloverleaf market is an “eyesore.”
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista cannot be reached for comment.
The challenge of the city government is how to convince De Guzman to rehabilitate the dilapidated market structure, Cuña said.
The Balintawak Cloverleaf administration would stand to suffer from huge losses if it failed to bring in a new facility and professionalize unruly vendors, the city government said.
The city’s Department of Building Official issued the project proponent—Ayala Land Inc.—a building permit to proceed with the construction of the residential towers, commercial and open spaces, office complexes and medical facility in one setting that is conveniently connected to northern Metro Manila’s major roads—Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, A. Bonifacio Avenue and the North Luzon Expressway.
Cloverleaf Balintawak is situated at the intersection of Edsa-NLEx and “brings the best of the metropolis and the rest of Luzon together,” ALI said in a statement.
“It is directly connected to the LRT-Balintawak station and close to the soon-to-be completed Skyway stage 3 extension project on A. Bonifacio Avenue which will cut Makati City-Balintawak travel time to a 20-minute drive,” the statement added.
Cloverleaf Balintawak, it said, will be one of the most accessible establishments in the northernmost tip of Quezon City.
According to Suzette Naval, ALI corporate communications manager, the development in the area of Balintawak will not affect vendors of the Balintawak Cloverleaf private market or encroach on the market’s boundary.
“With the simultaneous constructions ongoing,” ALI is on track to open the Ayala Malls Cloverleaf and Avida Cloverleaf Tower 2 in 2017, Qualimed Hospital in 2018 and Avida Cloverleaf Towers 2 in 2019, Naval said.
De Guzman, however, merely said he is willing to have the stalls repainted by their owners “but no major facelift.”
Equally evasive is the administrator of Mega Q-Mart and the president of Quezon City’s private market associations, Cornelio de Guzman, who said “I can’t say if I am in favor of the Ayala project or not.”