ARANETA OPENS THE GATEWAY TO A PHILIPPINE MANHATTAN
Diversified and progressive, the Araneta Group has a track record of embarking on business ventures characterized as the first, biggest and best in their class
The Araneta Center at the heart of Quezon City in Metro Manila is one of the Philippines' largest retail and entertainment mixed-use centers. Built up gradually by the Araneta family since the 60s, it contains performance venues, malls, markets, parks and office space.
Over the past few years, the Araneta Group of Companies has embarked on a redevelopment drive for the center by focusing on the country's growth areas: middle-income housing, and office space for business process outsourcing (BPO), while continuing to develop the leisure and entertainment sectors.
The first step in this redevelopment was achieved in 2005 with the opening of the Gateway Mall, the third shop
ping center to be built on the 35hectare site.
Gateway develops the concept of transport-oriented projects popular in other major Asian cities, such as Hong Kong and Tokyo, and connects directly to two mass transit systems.
Built on five levels, the mall includes a Rustan department store and a luxuriously appointed ten-screen cinema. It won the merit award in the 30th International Design and Development Awards Program of the International Council of Shopping Centers (lCSC) held in Phoenix, Arizona, last November.
Further steps in this projected renaissance are also underway. BPO firm Accenture Philippines currently occupies a four-story building next to the Gateway Mall, but Araneta Group's Chairman and CEO, Jorge L. Araneta, believes this is just the thin end of the wedge.
In light of the current upsurge in BPO industry in the country, the group is developing a 7.48-hectare Cyber Park within the Araneta Center, specifically created as space for call centers.
"The demand is very strong," says Mr. Araneta. "There are no buildings available at present for a large user such as a call center. We are going to build ten premises over eight hectares, and the first is almost finished."
Approval for IT zone status has been I obtained from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), meaning future company locators will be eligible for tax cuts and incentives. The buildings will be comparatively low-rise, comprising three to eight floors.
Comparative, that is, to the planned residential edifices. Araneta has entered into a joint venture agreement with real estate developer Megaworld, which will be building 20 high-rise towers over five hectares in the Araneta Center. Known as the Manhattan Garden City, this residential complex will be the first in the country to connect directly to the mass transit system. It will also be the first to have retail space at ground floor level.
"Rightnow,all the apartment buildings in Manila are gated communities. Nobody can go there except the residents, who live in a sort of island. We want the opposite, we want Manhattan," says Mr. Araneta. Pedestrian and nature friendly, the Manhattan Garden City will contain a three-storey elevated walk-way featuring garden landscaping that will connect all the buildings to each other and to the MRT-3 and LRT-2 transport systems.
Aside from the Araneta Center itself, the group has interests in food, leisure and entertainment, including movie theatres and the 20,000-seat Araneta Coliseum, which are managed by United Promotions Inc. The exclusive franchisee of Pizza Hut, Philippine Pizza Inc. (PPI), owns and operates over 140 Pizza Hut restaurants throughout the country.
Within the intensely competitive food industry, the business is doing well. Company strategy now visualizes elevating the tone from fast food out let to casual dining location. "We are raising standards," says Mr. Araneta. "This is a global strategy for Pizza Hut, but we were one of the first to implement it."