spot_img
28.1 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

P100-b Manila Bay project OKd

- Advertisement -

Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada has given the go-ahead to a new reclamation project—touted to be the biggest in Manila Bay—that would see the construction of a P100-billion, 419-hectare commercial district.

Estrada stressed the city government stands to get “almost half” of the hundreds of billions of total projected revenues of the Horizon Manila Project, proposed by real estate firm J-Bros Construction Corp.

“With another milestone project such as this one, we are getting close to achieving our dream of regaining the City of Manila’s old title, the Pearl of the Orient. This will mean a lot to us in terms of revenues and employment and business opportunities,” Estrada said.

On June 1, the mayor led the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Philippine Reclamation Authority chairman Alberto Agra, general manager Janilo Rubiato and J-Bros president Engineer Jesusito Legaspi Jr., virtually sealing the deal for the construction of the new mixed-use development center in another portion of Manila Bay.

When completed, Estrada said the project “will change the skyline of Manila and make it at par with other modern cities in the world.”

- Advertisement -

“It will become the leading address for business leaders who wish to be part of Manila’s future trajectory,” he stressed.

The income from the project, Estrada added, will boost the funding of the city’s flagship social programs in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and even environmental management.

“Bust most importantly, this will generate thousands of jobs and livelihood opportunities for the people of Manila,” he said.

The city government earlier executed a joint venture agreement with the proponent on April 24 and subsequently issued the notice of award on May 31.

Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada

As with the three approved reclamation projects recently approved by Estrada, the city government will not spend a single centavo in the ambitious Horizon Manila Project because of the JVA arrangement.

Based on the JVA, the city government of Manila’s share in the new commercial hub’s revenue is 43.2 percent; J-Bros will get 56.8 percent. 

Of the 419-hectare business and residential center, 181 hectares will be appropriated to the city government, with the remaining 238 hectares to the developer.

At P200,000 average market value per square meter, Manila’s 181 hectares will translate to about P362 billion in revenues; J-Bros’ projected revenue is P476 billion.

The Horizon Manila project is on top of the three major reclamation ventures Estrada is pursuing. The others are the New Manila Bay International Community (407.42 hectares); the Solar City urban center (148 hectares); and the P7.4-billion expansion of the Manila Harbour Centre in Tondo.

Horizon Manila involves the construction of three islands within Manila Bay, between the Manila-Pasay border in the south and Roxas Boulevard in the east, stretching to about 3.5 kilometers off the shores of Manila Bay, Legaspi said.

Each island has a land area of about 140 hectares.

“Just for the construction and development alone, and when it’s fully developed with buildings, offices, hotels, hospitals, it will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs to Filipinos,” Legaspi stressed, adding it will also generate billions in annual taxes to the city government.

Horizon Manila, he described, is “a master-planned city that will serve as a turning point” for the City of Manila.

The J-Bros executive said they expect to start with the initial construction and dredging works within the year or early 2018.

PRA officials said that with the signing of the MOU, the project proponent will now have to submit the mandatory requirements such as feasibility study, detailed engineering, geohazard studies, and Environmental Compliance Certificate within six months to one year.

“In the last 10 years, we never had a major land reclamation to house new establishments, housing, and commercial centers but under Mayor Erap, we now have three reclamation projects, all approved in the last six months or so,” Rubiato said.

Agra, meanwhile, lauded the Estrada administration for being a “PPP-prolific” (Public-Private Partnership).

“Under the dynamic leadership of Mayor Erap, Manila has awarded so far three joint venture contracts for reclamation just in the last six months,” Agra stressed.

The PRA boss assured the agency will expedite all the studies and requirements “to produce what we call ‘legacy islands’ as part of the ‘build-build-build’ initiative of President Duterte so that together with Mayor Erap, we will be able to step on new lands before 2019 or before 2022.”

Two roads will provide access to the commercial area: C-2 Highway (Quirino Highway), the skyway that will run from Makati City to Quezon City, connecting the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways; and P. Ocampo Street (Vito Cruz).

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles