Ortigas plans launch of second Greenhills tower

PROPERTY developer Ortigas & Co. is planning to launch a sequel tower inside the Greenhills Shopping District as it turns over the first phase of its residential condominium property in the area this year.

The company said the Viridian, a 53-storey luxury tower with units priced from P6.7 million to P42.3 million, has started turning over the units to their buyers and is almost sold out.

Viridian has a size of 38 square meters (sq.m.) for studios, 64 sq.m. for one-bedroom, 114 sq.m. for two-bedroom and 135 sq.m. for three-bedroom units. Amenities include a business lounge, fitness gym and a sky garden on the 21st and 22nd floors.

“We’re about to launch another project, a sequel tower. So we’re just finalizing the plans, the license… and soon we’ll be planning the formal launch,” said Jaime E. Ysmael, who is chairman, president and chief executive of Ortigas.

The project is part of the redevelopment plan for the Greenhills Shopping District, which will include a commercial leasing component.

“Hopefully we’ll see if we can launch, if not this year then next year for that particular leasing product, malls and office,” he said in an interview.

He added that the spot where supermarket operator Unimart, along with a few other stores used to be located, has been vacated to make way for a new shopping center that will offer lease for office spaces.

“After we complete that we will move to the next phase because we want to make sure that we phase it so that there’s no major disruptions,” he said.

The next phases of the redevelopment will depend on how the market will receive their product offerings, Mr. Ysmael said.

“Depending on the demand and the take-up rate then we’ll move on to the next phases. We just want to make sure that we have ready projects at any point in time,” he said.

The redevelopment of the Greenhills Shopping District is part of the company’s expansion program for its mixed-used estate, which will cost around P8 billion to P9 billion.

Ortigas will also be expanding Estancia Mall in the Capital Commons estate and Circulo Verde, both in Pasig City, to broaden its market.

Asked about plans to venture outside Metro Manila, Mr. Ysmael said the current focus is to develop the company’s existing locations.

“These are very prime sites anyway, so we’d like to maximize the development potential by looking at them all at the same time then ramping up the level of activity,” he said.