PROPERTY giant Megaworld Corp. is gearing up for the development of its 34-hectare Upper East township project in Bacolod City.
Harold Brian Geronimo, senior assistant vice president for public relations and media affairs of Megaworld, in an interview at the company's headquarters in Taguig City, said they will start the project development next year.
The Upper East is a mix-use development project located at the eastern side of the city that used to be the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company compound.
It forms part of the total 87-hectare township development projects of Megaworld in the province worth at least P35 billion.
The other project is the 53-hectare Northill Gateway situated along airport access road bordering the cities of Bacolod and Talisay.
Geronimo said they will also start selling the first residential development, which is a condominium, within the Upper East in 2018.
"Aside from residential, we will also be constructing state-of-the-art business process outsourcing office towers," he said, adding that "a new business district will soon rise in Bacolod."
For the Northill Gateway, Megaworld announced that it will also start turning over the lots for its 15-hectare upscale residential village called Forbes Hill.
The firm will also start the construction of the Northill Town Center, its first lifestyle mall in Negros, next year.
Geronimo said that upon turning over the lots for sale, which will have a grace period of one year, owners can already start constructing their houses.
“We have been very selective with who should be part of the community, but we are happy with the mix of residents of Forbes Hill,” Geronimo said, adding that about 70 percent of the lots were already sold.
With the flourishing economic activities in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, the property development firm remains bullish with their projects in the province.
“We are very confident about the economy of the province and where it is going. We know that real estate is one industry that we see to grow there," he added.
Meanwhile, full completion of the two township projects is expected within at least the next five years.
In terms of employment, these developments are seen to generate about 250,000 direct and indirect jobs mostly for Negrenses.