Sunday, May 13, 2007 World-class master planner to do new project in Makati
JON Adams Jerde and his highly acclaimed company, the Jerde Partnership International has been tapped by the dynamic Philippine real estate company, Century Properties to master plan Century City, a sprawling P40 billion integrated urban mixed-use complex set to rise in the property formerly occupied by the International School Manila in Makati City.
Based in Venice, California, the architecture and urban planning firm will come to the Philippines to become a part of the creative team of the progressive project, touted “a city within a city.”
Envisioned to be an architectural masterpiece “never before seen in the Philippines,” with components, amenities and features “some of which have never been done anywhere else in the world,” says the Ambassador Jose E.B. Antonio, Chairman of Century Properties, Century City is poised to become a true world-class destination like other multimillion-dollar Jerde-designed global landmarks: the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, the Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, and the soon-to-rise City of Dreams in Macau.
Century City is “an organic future city that fuses nature and technology with exclusive high-rise residences, Grade A offices in vertical state-of-the-art corporate complex, a resort-style country club, a luxury hotel, and a sprawling shopping dining, and entertainment complex unlike anything ever built,” Antonio said. The development will be located on five-hectares of prime real estate on Kalayaan Avenue, Makati, on the last remaining large piece of undeveloped land in a soon-to-be expanded central business district.
Bided out by the government in February 2006, the property where Century City shall rise was successfully acquired in a government bidding in June 2006 by the group led by Century Properties Inc., along with Singapore-based Crescent Group and Picar Holdings.
Century City will contain the first and only Philippine Economic Zone Authority information-technology (IT) park in Makati City. A minimum of 160, 000 square meters of Grade A offices are already being made available to BPO locators and other multinational companies.
According to its developers, Century City will go beyond the usual design and structure of typical integrated cities, to rise as “a fitting symbol for the Philippines’ highest aspirations as a global financial and business center, as well as a new entertainment destination in Asia.”
Century City is indeed poised to become world-class in all respects – from its iconic architecture to its nature-inspired and self-contained environment, first-rate property management and prime real estate value.
“This new development will reshape Makati’s Skyline,” promises Jon Jerde, founder and CEO of the Jerde Partnership International.
The retail component will be an organic glassed-in complex that will connect to the living and working components of the urban ecosystem. The architecture will be inspired by nature’s blueprint, with canyons, waterworks, cliffs and high-rises like redwoods reaching for the sky.
An emphasis on natural light will flood the shopping, dining and entertainment areas that are spread out across the city, with movie theaters, a central plaza, pockets of green spaces and dramatic water features. It will project a strong sense of place and character, where people will revel in new experiences as they meet, live, shop and work.
The groundbreaking is scheduled for the second quarter of 2007 with the completion of the first office building in 2009.
Century City is a P40 billion mixed-use development that will comprise first-class residential towers, Grade A office buildings in Makati's first and only IT park, a luxury hotel, leisure and entertainment facilities, and other never-before-seen attractions. Masterplanned by the renowned Jerde Partnership International, it is the latest evolutionary project of Century Properties, positioned to rise as a visual icon in the Makati skyline and a landmark of a truly global Philippines.
Century Properties, one of the largest real estate companies in the Philippines, is behind many firsts in Philippine vertical and horizontal developments, such as the award-winning Essensa East Forbes; South of Market, the first Fully-Fitted and Fully-Furnished condominium; Grand Soho Makati, the Fully-Fitted and Fully-Furnished condominium with three interior design options; Soho Central, the first Transportation-oriented Development; Canyon Ranch, the first Wi-Fi-integrated community in the South; and The Casitas at Canyon Ranch, the first Fully-Fitted, Fully-Furnished and Fully-Serviced homes in Asia.
For more information, visit www.centurycity.com.ph. (Press release)
