Megaworld allots P3.4B to expand 3 townships
Developer Megaworld Corp. will spend P3.4 billion to expand three of its townships across the country, banking on the strength of its provincial projects to drive growth.
In a regulatory filing on Monday, Megaworld said it would reinvest the proceeds raised from selling its shares in its real estate investment trust (REIT) to add new “income-generating” properties in The Upper East Bacolod, The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu and Paragua Coastown in Palawan.
These include office towers, lifestyle malls and hotels, among others, according to Megaworld.
In Bacolod City, the company led by billionaire Andrew Tan plans to start building a lifestyle mall within the 34-hectare (ha) township across the city government center.
Meanwhile, the 30-hectare The Mactan Newtown will soon feature the standalone Mactan Expo convention center and Mactan World Museum.
This adds to the Lapu-Lapu township’s four residential developments, five office towers and two hotels.
Megaworld is likewise developing two hotels, two residential condominiums, a residential village, commercial districts and nature parks within the 462-ha Paragua Coastown.
“These three provincial townships, while different in scale and themes, have huge potential for tourism, which will drive business into these localities,” Megaworld president and CEO Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso said in a statement.
“We hope to be able to expand our offerings that can generate more jobs and help boost tourism in these exciting locations,” Alfonso added.
Last month, Megaworld sold P2.24 billion worth of its shares in MREIT Inc., making room for possible asset infusions into the latter and beefing up the developer’s coffers for expansion.
In an earlier disclosure, MREIT said The Mactan Newtown would get P830 million of the total proceeds, Paragua Coastown will be allocated P845 million, while The Upper East will get P537.92 million.
Megaworld also sold P1.17 billion worth of MREIT shares in July.
The developer netted a record P12.09 billion in the first six months of the year, representing a 23-percent surge due to high demand in its township projects.
Real estate sales totaled P27.12 billion in the first semester, up by 9 percent.
