Mindanao’s tallest building to be completed by December

DAVAO CITY — Aeon Towers — a 33-floor condominium, commercial and hotel project of local firm FTC Group of Companies Corp. — is expected to be completed by December, becoming the tallest operational building in Davao City and the rest of Mindanao.

The group’s chairman, Francisco T. Cruz, said the P3.1-billion building is now 70% done and they are aiming to turn over the residential units by the end of the year or January.

“The units are almost sold out,” Mr. Cruz said during the topping- off ceremony last week at the building’s 33rd floor.

Aeon Towers will only be dwarfed by the 37-story Vivaldi Residences project of Euro Towers International, Inc., scheduled for completion in 2018.

Occupying a land area of 4,574 square meters, Aeon Towers will house 473 residential units. The ground to the 5th floor will be for commercial establishments while the hotel component will occupy the 7th to 10th floors.

The top floor will be a skydeck while other amenities include a swimming pool, spa, fitness gym, library, and meeting and conference rooms.

SAFETY

Ian Campbell, president of the building’s project manager I.A Campbell and Associates, Inc., assured that the Aeon Towers has “earthquake-resistant features.”

“After the earthquake last week we inspected the building and not one crack, this is a very safe building. The building has stiffness and flexibility just like a palm tree,” Mr. Campbell said.

In February 2015, a 100- meter area of a road that borders Aeon Towers collapsed, the second time after a similar incident at the same portion in September the previous year. The road is an access lane to J.P. Laurel Avenue, a major city street, within the neighboring Ayala Abreeza Mall compound.

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake shook Davao City last Feb. 23, less than two weeks after a magnitude 6.7 tremor struck Surigao del Norte province on Feb. 10, which was also slightly felt in the city.

Aside from I.A. Campbell and Associates, other companies involved in the project are: D.J. Litonjua and Associates (design architect), Syndicated Architects ( design consultant), SY2 and Associates (structural consultant), AC Pama Engineering Design and Consultancy ( structural engineer), Forsspac ( Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection consultant), and Far East Associates (technical documentation support). —