Megaworld to transform 160-ha Fort Bonifacio property into Philippine’s administrative capital

MANILA, Philippines — Property giant Megaworld Corp. is teaming up with the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for the management of the 160-hectare Bonifacio Capital District (BCD).

The two groups signed yesterday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the management of the district in the southern part of Fort Bonifacio toward South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Megaworld said this covers two of its existing township developments, the 54.3-hectare McKinley Hill and the 34.5-hectare McKinley West, while the remaining land consists of properties owned by BCDA.

These BCDA properties are the 26-hectare Philippine Navy Village; the 33.1-hectare Bonifacio South Pointe in partnership with the SM Group; the 10.1-hectare Consular property beside McKinley West; and a remaining one-hectare BCDA lot.

Under the partnership, BCDA and Megaworld will create the Policy Review Board (PRB) which will have the exclusive jurisdiction to set policies and restrictions on the development of BCD, and to ensure the proper execution of the district’s master development plan and vision.

“The Bonifacio Capital District will have Lawton Avenue as its main road, with direct access points toward Bonifacio Global City (BGC) via Lawton-Fifth Avenue connection; Makati CBD and EDSA via McKinley Road and Chino Roces Avenue Extension; South Luzon Expressway and NAIA  Expressway via southern portion of Lawton Avenue; and C5 Road via Bayani Road and Upper McKinley Road inside McKinley Hill,” Megaworld said.

BCDA’s Bonifacio South Main Boulevard is also located inside BCD, which will provide alternate access from NAIA and Bonifacio Global City, to decongest Lawton Avenue.

The six-lane road will also have bicycle lanes on opposite sides as well as linear park that will traverse the boulevard and will further promote a livable green environment within the district, benefitting residents and workers.

At present, development-based gross floor area (GFA) of existing and operational commercial, residential, office and institutional properties within the district is around 1.26 million square meters.

Projected GFA of proposed mixed-use developments in undeveloped lots within the district, on the other hand, is around 2.1 million square meters.

“These new developments are expected to be completed in the next 10 years,” Megaworld said.

Megaworld said that by 2025, the district will be the location of one of the proposed stations of the ongoing Metro Manila Subway Project, initially named as Lawton East Station.

“In the next five years, after completing the road developments, utilities network and the subway project, we will be focused on traffic management, which includes development of bike lanes and pedestrian networks as well as deployment of traffic marshals,” said Kevin Tan, chief executive officer of Alliance Global Group, the parent company of Megaworld.

“We will also improve landscaping along the district’s major roads and designing the entire district with urban art installations. On security management, we will also expand the CCTV monitoring to cover all areas of the district, which will then be incorporated into our Central Command Center inside McKinley Hill,” Tan added.

Based on the district’s original masterplan by Parsons Brinckerhoff, at least 15 percent of the entire area will be dedicated to recreation, green and open spaces, on top of the mandatory open space easement required to each locator.

Meanwhile, Megaworld said BCD is envisioned to be the country’s administrative capital as it will soon be home to the future buildings of some of the major government institutions such as the Senate of the Philippines, the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.

“These government institutions will be complemented with more office spaces, residential units, parks, and commercial establishments – which are all essential to our vision to create vibrant and livable communities for the people,” BCDA president and chief executive officer Vince Dizon said.

Dizon said he projects the institutionalizing of mixed-used concepts as a trend that the property market may see in the future.

“I think that’s really the future for mixed-used development. We’ll see more and more partnerships between government and private sector to make services more efficient  and more reachable to people,” Tan added.

“This marks the strong partnership of BCDA and Megaworld Corp. in building for progress. As a key locator in Fort Bonifacio, Megaworld has made positive impact in the lives of many Filipinos through its ‘live-work-play’ concept,” Dizon said.