AYALA To Build Biggest Mall Complex In PARANAQUE City

Ayala Land Inc., the property development arm of the Ayala group, has joined the action at the Pagcor Entertainment City in Parañaque with its plan to build a huge mall complex, a BPO center and a hotel within a nine-hectare property, according to documents filed with the Parañaque City government.

Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez said the decision of Ayala Land to invest in Parañaque is a huge vote of confidence for the city, which in 2014 was adjudged the country’s most competitive city in terms of economic dynamism and is now dubbed the Mega City by the Bay.

“This is another affirmation of Parañaque’s emergence as a new economic and business hub,” he said. “We welcome with open arms Ayala Land’s investment which we estimate should create at least 10,000 new jobs for our people and help sustain the country’s robust economic growth.”

Olivarez said Ayala Land filed an application for a locational clearance with the city’s Local Zoning Board of Adjustments and Appeals for its Entertainment City project, which is entirely within the jurisdiction of Barangay Tambo in Parañaque.

The application was swiftly approved by the board last week, he added.

The mayor said the Ayala decision proves that his administration’s “Invest in Parañaque” program, which is aimed at attracting more quality, long-term investments that create stable jobs, is beginning to yield dividends. He said more businesses haveexpressed similar interest to locate in Parañaque in the coming months.

Atty. Melanie S. Malaya, head of the city’s Business Permits and Licensing Office and a member of the board, said Ayala Land’s specific application is for the construction of a mall along Macapagal Avenue which she said will be bigger than the nearby SM Mall of Asia complex. The MOA is listed as having 407,000sqm in gross floor area.

The BPLO chief said the mall will become Parañaque’s biggest mall and is seen to compete head on with the Mall of Asia.

She said the Ayala group has secured a 45-year lease for the 9.2 hectare property from the Wenceslao group, owner of the ASEANA Business Park complex, for the project. The property is located right across the new City of Dreams Manila, a casino and hotel complex also owned by the SM group in partnership with the Melco Crown group of Macau.

Ayala Land will also develop a BPO center and a 12-storey hotel with at least 325 rooms within the leased property, Malaya added.

The entry of the Ayala group at the Entertainment City effectively brings together all the country’s biggest property developers in the area, which already has two casino complexes in operation: The City of Dreams of the SM group and the Solaire Resorts and Casino of port mogul Enrique Razon.

Two other casinos are currently being built at the Entertainment City: The Bayshore City Resorts World of Travellers International Group, a joint venture between Filipino tycoon Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. and the Genting group of Malaysia, and Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada’s Manila Bay Resorts project.