MEGAWORLD EYES 21 OFFICE, COMMERCIAL PROJECTS

Following its filing of the registration statement for the planned biggest Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) offering, Andrew Tan-led property giant Megaworld is strengthening its development pipeline in the next five years as it looks to invest the proceeds from the offer to complete 21 new office and commercial projects across 11 townships in the country.

The company told the Philippine Stock Exchange that these projects include 15 office developments, particularly in Uptown Bonifacio and McKinley West in Taguig City, Arcovia City in Pasig City, Iloilo Business Park in Iloilo City, The Upper East in Bacolod City, Capital Town in Pampanga, The Mactan Newtown in Cebu, and Davao Park District in Davao City; five (5) lifestyle malls in The Upper East and Northill Gateway in Bacolod, Capital Town in Pampanga, Maple Grove in Cavite, and Highland City in Rizal; and one (1) hotel in The Mactan Newtown.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the company earlier announced that it is looking to raise up to P27.3- billion from the initial public offering (IPO) of its newly-formed subsidiary MREIT, Inc., which is considered to be the Philippines’ biggest REIT offering to date.

“These are all big-ticket projects that we want to pursue as we look forward to full recovery in our economy, and the return of consumer confidence to normalcy. All of these new developments will spruce up our new townships, and at the same time, further expand our rental income portfolio. More than 70% of these new projects are office developments,” says Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer, Megaworld.

During the company’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting, Megaworld chairman and CEO Dr. Andrew L. Tan expressed optimism that the pandemic has strengthened Megaworld’s resolve to further grow its development portfolio by tapping opportunities on new consumer demands.

“We have numerous opportunities to explore in our growth pipeline, and we are prepared to take them on. We foresee continued robust demand for horizontal developments, and leisure and tourism estates, as people look for havens for rest and rejuvenation.

Demand for warehouses and logistics hubs should also increase, and we believe that our townships can easily cater to this need given their strategic locations,” Dr. Tan said in his address. The company is also ramping up its construction activities as it remains on track to complete 19 projects across its business segments this year.

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