{"id":30839,"date":"2016-10-20T16:18:03","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T09:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/why-townships-are-the-future-of-luxury-living-in-the-philippines\/"},"modified":"2016-10-20T16:19:43","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T09:19:43","slug":"why-townships-are-the-future-of-luxury-living-in-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/why-townships-are-the-future-of-luxury-living-in-the-philippines\/","title":{"rendered":"Why townships are the future of luxury living in the Philippines"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nPushing back against traffic congestion and gathering strength from the BPO industry, townships are redefining the residential landscape
\nEastwood City, Megaworld\u2019s first integrated urban township, grew from one of the first IT parks in the country
\nSome cities in the Philippines were founded on the best of plans. There\u2019s Cebu, the oldest, which took after a grid-iron street pattern conceived by Spanish colonists. There\u2019s Baguio, the American hill station, designed by architect Daniel Burnham. Manila, the capital, started out as an enclosed fort called Intramuros.
\nMany Philippine cities have since expanded in chaotic, ad hoc fashion. From these centuries of ferment the concept of integrated urban townships emerged.
\nWhile \u201ctownship\u201d takes on different meanings \u2014 it\u2019s a government unit in the US and a racially charged term in apartheid South Africa \u2014 an integrated urban township refers to a self-contained, master-planned community that is on the watch of a single property developer. The integrated township also comes with a trifecta of differentiators.
\n\u201cThe live-work-and-play concept would allow for flexibility, mobility, and a whole host of other amenities and facilities that\u2019s not really captured by a single mixed-use development,\u201d Claro Cordero, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle Philippines, explained.
\n\u201cPeople started to realise: \u2018Wow, this is a perfect place to live in because I can live where I work\u2019\u201d
\nUnlike private subdivisions, integrated townships usually have high-grade commercial buildings within a one-kilometre radius of the residential area, according to Michael McCullough, managing director at KMC MAG Group Inc. \u201cThese buildings cater to the requirements of both SMEs and large\u00adscale businesses, so finding a job that\u2019s close to home would be possible,\u201d he said.
\nIn fact, the Philippines\u2019 first integrated township, Eastwood City, came with the ascent of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
\nIn 1997, property development titan Megaworld Corp launched a then-renegade project: an IT park for BPO offices. A captive market of shift workers emerged.
\nRound-the-clock retail operations began to agglomerate in an 18-hectare wasteland in Quezon City that had been home to a textile mill. Sales increased for nearby retail establishments, on fixed rents, as they extended hours. By 2001, the first residential tower in the area, Olympic Heights, was ready for turnover.
\nEastwood Mall, one of three lifestyle malls in the eponymous township.
\n\u201cThis was a game-changer,\u201d Jericho Go, Megaworld senior vice president, said. \u201cPeople started to realise: \u2018Wow, this is a perfect place to live in because I can live where I work.\u2019\u201d
\nThat IT park has since grown to 10 office blocks and morphed into a paragon of Megaworld\u2019s \u201clive-work-play-learn\u201d thrust: Eastwood City. Now host to 55,000 workers and 25,000 residents, Eastwood has truly become the micro-city that never sleeps.
\nMore: Megaworld\u2019s Andrew Tan named Real Estate Personality of the Year
\nIn many respects, the Eastwood template of townships represents a pushback against the Manila traffic, voted \u201cworst on earth\u201d in a Waze survey last year.
\n\u201cTownships provide people with greater life-balance by providing \u2018everything\u2019 people need for daily life within the same area,\u201d said Sigrid Zialcita, managing director for Asia Pacific research at Cushman & Wakefield.
\nSnaking around Megaworld\u2019s townships are covered walkways and bike lanes that undercut the necessity of fossil-fuelled transport. For BPO employees who don\u2019t live in Eastwood or any of its nine Metro Manila townships, Megaworld has created a 24\/7 bus network called CityLink.
\nIn a nation where quality public space is synonymous with shopping malls, Megaworld forges at the cutting edge
\nIn a nation where quality public space is synonymous with shopping malls, Megaworld forges at the cutting edge. Accredited by the state as a \u201ctourism entertainment complex,\u201d Eastwood City pioneered complimentary butler service and pet-friendly zones in its malls. A typical residential building in Eastwood \u2014 the township currently has 19 condominium blocks \u2014 would include function rooms, sky gardens, lap pools, children\u2019s pools, playgrounds, fitness gyms, and game rooms. This year, the township was named Grand Winner in Urban Land Institute\u2019s Healthy Places Awards.
\n\u201cGiven the current infrastructure problems of Metro Manila, homeowners are increasingly inclined to purchase property or even a second (or halfway) home within the vicinity of their work,\u201d noted Yves Luethi, vice president of KMC MAG Group, a Manila-based international associate of Savills. \u201cSince those who typically find themselves in this situation are gainfully employed as expatriates, executives, or young professionals, they are increasingly able to afford high-end residential offerings in the same area.\u201d
\nThe third tower at the French-inspired LeGrand residential project
\nHome values in Eastwood average around PHP130,000 (USD2,800) per square metre, while rental rates in LeGrand, the township\u2019s new, French-inspired condominium towers, average PHP25,000 (USD537) for studios, PHP35,000 (USD752) for a one-bedroom unit, and PHP50,000 (USD1,075) for a two-bedroom one.
\nDemand for township homes is also \u201chighly driven by overseas foreign workers,\u201d who along with BPO workers, may bring in USD51 billion in revenues to the country this year, added Luethi.
\nThe large sums of remittances, coupled with the fact that 49 percent of the Philippines\u2019\u00a0population now live in urban areas, would suggest that the latest township model of urban planning has never been more crucial to the future of the country.
\n\u201cThe township is the highest form of what you can achieve in terms of development,\u201d Go said. \u201cCities are now aspiring to be townships rather than the other way around.\u201d
\nRead next: Megaworld to develop even more townships in the Philippines
\n
\nSource : property-report.com
\nRead more…Why townships are the future of luxury living in the Philippines<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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