BCDA to launch Clark Green City next year

MANILA, Philippines – State-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) may be done disposing large chunks of land for now or until the Aquino administration ends next year.

In an interview, BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said it would instead focus on the planned launch of the initial 288-hectare lot in Clark Green City by the first quarter of next year.

“If there is an opportunity we will (still bid out lots) )but it would depend on the instruction of the President because we don’t want to do it on an election transition year because of the change in administration.  By next year also, I think people will be waiting for the result of the elections,” Casanova said.

Casanova said BCDA still has plenty of lots in Fort Bonifacio awaiting to be auctioned either for land sale or lease but is in no hurry of disposing them at the moment.

“Currently, we believe we will just focus on the last transactions that we have. We have so much in our plate already. We have revenues already so in terms of financial condition we are in good shape. We are focusing more on reinvesting these funds to generate more value in the future,” he said.

BCDA has recently won a case against the Navy Officers’ Village Association, Inc. for a 47-hectare parcel of land at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

Casanova said BCDA will soon start doing the masterplan for the 47-hectare property.

Last September, BCDA has also successfully auctioned the deal to develop the initial 288-hectare lot in Clark Green City in which Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) of the Gotianun family won with a bid of P160 million.

“We’re finalizing our contract now with Filinvest so hopefully we’ll be signing that not later than December then January or February we will have a soft launch of the city,” Casanova said.

“It’s very important for us to make that happen. It’s a JV so we’ll assist them. It’s not only FLI. BCDA shares the burden in making the project successful. Given all the factors and the growth of the economy, we believe that it will be a very successful launch,” he added.

Clark Green City is envisioned to become the most modern metropolis and a center of economic development in the country.

BCDA is also pushing for Clark Green City to become a back-up government center for Metro Manila should a major calamity strike in the future.

The 9,450-hectare future city has already been identified as a disaster-resilient area according to the BCDA given that it is a hundred kilometers away from the West Valley fault line and is surrounded by the typhoon-mitigating Zambales and Sierra Madre mountain ranges.