PROPERTY giant Megaworld Corp. will start the development of its 7.5-hectare Northill Town Center at the boundaries of cities of Bacolod and Talisay in Negros Occidental early next year, its top officials announced on Tuesday.
Rachelle Peñaflorida, vice president for sales and marketing of Megaworld Premiere Bacolod, and Harold Geronimo, public relations and communications head of Megaworld Corp., led the press briefing on the project at 21 Restaurant in Bacolod City.
Peñaflorida said the commercial town center is one of the major components of the 53-hectare Northill Gateway township project along the Bacolod-Silay Access Road.
She added that the completion of the two-storey Northill Town Center situated on the Bacolod side of the project is targeted early part of 2018.
“The sprawling horizontal commercial town center occupying about 14 percent of the entire Northill Gateway is mostly comprised of retail shops and dining establishments surrounded by landscapes parks and open spaces,” she said.
It will also have a central plaza, an events venue, supermarket, wellness and sports facilities, and “pasalubong centers,” featuring Negrense handicrafts and delicacies, and organic produce.
“Also, we are now finalizing the design of the iconic chapel to be built at the town center’s central plaza,” Peñaflorida said, adding that “it will be the major landmark of the project.”
Geronimo said that since the access road is the province’s tourism highway, they are also positioning the town center as a tourism stopover.
He added that the “town center will certainly become a destination not just for tourists and visitors, but also for Negrenses who want to unwind and relax from the busy city life.”
In March last year, the property firm announced that it is investing P35 billion in the next 10 years to develop Northill Gateway and the Upper East, which is another upcoming 34-hectare mix-use development project at the eastern side of Bacolod City that used to be the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company compound.
For the Northill Gateway, Megaworld is now constructing the Forbes Hill, the township’s most upscale residential village, along with Suntrust Property's Fountain Grove.
Megaworld officials revealed that about 50 percent of the residential spaces were already sold and reserved.
Most of the buyers are from A and B classes coming from Negros Occidental and areas like Cebu and Manila, they added.
Megaworld Corp. remained confident amid industry worries over the possible impact of the victory of Donald Trump as US president to the investment inputs of American companies in the country.
Geronimo said they currently have some 130 companies in their office portfolio, including those of the business process outsourcing (BPO).
“We are still confident thus, we continue to expand our projects across the country,” Geronimo said.
For Negros and Bacolod, he said the company remains optimistic with the economy, particularly with the Negrenses’ growing spending capacity and the province’s flourishing BPO and tourism potentials.