New Carbon public market to open by April

CEBU, Philippines —  The developer of the Carbon Market Redevelopment project, Cebu2World Development Inc., (C2W) announced the opening of a sophisticated and fresh public market by April 2022.

In a virtual press briefing held yesterday, February 15, 2022,  C2W chairman Manuel Louie B. Ferrer bared that the company has completed the first sub-phase of the five-year Phase 1 transformation project at the 113-year-old Carbon public market.

In fact, despite the hurdles like the recent typhoon Odette, and the ongoing threat of the pandemic, the C2W, which is a subsidiary of MEGAWIDE Construction Corporation, is accelerating the works and is well on track, if not ahead of the completion target.

Areas that will be opened come April 2022 are the interim market, bagsakan area, and the senior citizen’s park.

Later part of this year is also the opening of the iconic Puso Village, which is an F&B (food and beverage) and retail concept that will showcase the flavors of Cebu in a modern setting, declared Christina Angan, C2W Director.

Originally budgeted to incur P5.5 billion in project cost, Ferrer said the company’s latest estimate can reach up to P8 Billion during the term of the JVA (joint venture agreement).

“This is because we are updating our original project plan to integrate more sustainable business opportunities considering the current business climate.

We are also aligning the project’s infrastructure program with Cebu City's infrastructure masterplan, which will ensure that the district's modernization will have an even wider and even more lasting benefit to the city,” Ferrer explained.

Ferrer, who also sits as the Megawide Executive Director for Infrastructure Development, added that the company continues to be agile especially on the probable changes of political leaderships after the May 2022 elections, taking into consideration that the project is under a PPP (public-private-partnership) with Cebu City local government.

This 50-year joint venture with the Cebu City government covers the modernization of the Carbon public market as well as the infrastructure development of the entire district.

Under the contract, Cebu City will receive an annual guaranteed payment of P50 million with 10 percent escalation every five years.

The entire project is envisioned to transform historic Carbon Market into a commercial, heritage and cultural district with a multimodal and integrated transport hub.

The redevelopment would create 36,000 square meters of gross leasable area, much larger than the current area of only 15,000 sqm.

The agreement involved a phased redevelopment of the 7.8-hectare Carbon Market, with carefully studied temporary market program once the construction starts.

Submitted as an unsolicited proposal, phase 1 of the project would involve the rehabilitation of the existing public facilities, construction of a new night market and other commercial establishments, transport and ferry terminals, airport check-in facility, water taxis going to Mactan Island, among others.

From a dense and sometimes hostile environment, Carbon Market will become the country’s first world-class public market, which will also be designed to be a major tourists’ attraction within Cebu City.

“These new facilities and improvements will address the concerns of the Cebuano public on cleanliness, security, and convenience, which are among the top reasons why so many of them stopped going to Carbon regularly and instead choose supermarkets despite our low prices,” Ferrer added.

By 2025, Cebu will have a world-class Carbon market, which will also become an iconic in-city destination showcasing Cebuano heritage and culture.

MEGAWIDE Construction Corporation is also the developer of the new Mactan International Airport in partnership with GMR Group of India.