Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corporation has reaped major recognitions for three of its biggest townships in Metro Manila and Iloilo City.
Eastwood City in Quezon City, McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, and Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo lead the long list of the property giant’s most distinguished developments that have been feted by several prestigious local and international property organizations as the best in their respective classes.
So what makes these townships stand out?
Eastwood City: A golden address
The 18.5-hectare Eastwood City, the Philippines’ first-ever cyberpark, has played a very instrumental role in the unprecedented growth of the country’s It-BPO sector. In 2015, it was awarded as the “Most Outstanding Township Development” at the Property and Real Estate Excellence Awards by FIABCI Philippines, further cementing its status as an unparalleled address for its complete live-work-play offerings.
The township recently welcomed its newest high-profile resident in Hidilyn Diaz, the first-ever Filipino to win an Olympic gold medal. The weightlifting champion has just moved into her two-bedroom condominium unit at One Eastwood Avenue, a gift from tycoon and Megaworld Chairman Dr. Andrew L. Tan.
“Noong nakita ko ‘yung location, sabi ko wow, ang daming restaurants dito. Convenient siya kasi andoon na ang bangko, nandoon na ang supermarket, eh yun ang kailangan na basic ng bawat Pilipino (When I first saw the location, I said wow, there’s a lot of restaurants here. It’s very convenient because there are banks, there are supermarkets, and that’s among the basic needs of every Filipino),” the 30-year-old Tokyo gold medalist shared in an interview.
Even topnotch BPO and multinational companies have also chosen to stay in Eastwood City for decades. These include IBM, which has been there for 20 years, and Accenture and NTT Data (formerly Dell), which have been in the township for more than a decade already.
Eastwood City has attracted companies to stay there because it is easily accessible to Ortigas, to the rest of Quezon City, Marikina, and even Bonifacio Global City since it is along C5 Road. The township offers complete convenience to residents, workers, businesses, and even the casual visitors since it has a lifestyle mall, a hotel, retail and commercial outlets, as well as its own fire station, medical clinics, police station, and many more.
McKinley Hill: Commanding the world-class attention
McKinley Hill is currently Megaworld’s biggest township in Metro Manila at 54-hectares. With its perfect live-work-play ambiance, gorgeous architecture, vast dining options, and international inspirations, there is no denying that one can find the best of the metro in this thriving Fort Bonifacio township.
Just two years ago, the township was awarded as the “Best Mixed-Use Development in Luzon” at The Outlook Awards 2018 by Lamudi Philippines. It also bagged two prestigious international recognitions in 2016 when it was named the “Best Mixed-Used Development” in both the Industrial and Masterplan categories at the 2016 FIABCI World Prix d’Excellence Awards.
The township features a variety of vertical and horizontal residential developments, including the McKinley Hill Village, an exclusive, gated village.
The township’s safety is also a huge factor that attracted the foreign embassies of the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Italy, and the United Kingdom, as well as international schools to decide to be inside the township.
McKinley Hill’s strategic location makes it an attractive address for businesses and residents because it’s just beside C5 and the South Luzon Expressway (SLEx), which connects it to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Eastwood City, and other major business districts. A proposal to build a monorail connecting the Metro Rail Transit’s Guadalupe Station to Bonifacio Global City, will also further improve McKinley Hill’s accessibility. Meanwhile, a station of the Mega Manila Subway, will also be built within the periphery of the township to complement the existing public transport hub inside McKinley Hill.
The future headquarters of two major branches of the government—the Philippine Senate and the Philippine Supreme Court—will soon be located within the McKinley Hill district.
Iloilo Business Park: A thriving business hub in Western Visayas
The 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park is undoubtedly Megaworld’s most successful township outside the National Capital Region (NCR). In 2018, it was recognized as the “Best Township Development in Asia” at the prestigious Asia Property Awards by PropertyGuru. This distinction came after the township also ruled the Philippines Property Awards as the country’s “Best Township Development” just months prior.
During the same year, Iloilo Business Park also added another recognition under its belt when it was named the “Best Mixed-Use Development for Visayas and Mindanao” at The Outlook 2018 Awards.
Today, this award-winning township is home to the most modern central business district in Iloilo. In fact, it shone the brightest for Megaworld during the lockdown last year as it covered around 20% of the company’s total office lease transactions in 2020.
In addition, the company’s total leasable office portfolio of 100,000 square meters inside Iloilo Business Park has been fully leased out last year. This enabled Megaworld to further cement its leadership status in the Iloilo office leasing market with a 70% market share.
A dynamic business landscape is only a fraction of what Iloilo Business Park offers as the township carries Megaworld’s signature live-work-play lifestyle concept within its very DNA. Currently, the township plays host to themed residential condominiums, world-class hotels Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo (and soon Belmont Hotel Iloilo), the Iloilo Convention Center (ICC), the three-level Festive Walk Mall—dubbed as the most beautiful mall in Western Visayas—the 1.1-kilometer Festive Walk Parade, and the Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art (ILOMOCA).
These three award-winning townships—which is home to more than 200,000 BPO workers—also host all 10 assets currently included in the portfolio of MREIT, Inc., the company designated by Megaworld to operate as a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). Interestingly, MREIT’s portfolio only comprises about 16% of the total assets of Megaworld.
“With Megaworld being the market leader in terms of office spaces in the country, we believe that we are in the position to create the best office REIT in the Philippines. Our goal is to be one of the largest REITs in Southeast Asia in terms of floor area. We are very confident that we can do this because we have the assets and we have the portfolio to achieve it,” says Kevin L. Tan, president and CEO, MREIT, Inc.