CPG, Mitsubishi break ground for Forbes tower

CENTURY PROPERTIES Group, Inc. (CPG) and leading Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Corp. broke ground on the world’s first Forbes-branded office building in the Philippines.

The groundbreaking comes five months after CPG subsidiary Century City Development Corp. (CCDC) signed a deal with Mitsubishi to build, lease out and maintain the P4.5-billion Forbes Media Tower through Century City Development II Corp. (CCDCII), a 60-40 joint venture in favor of the Antonio family-led company.

“The demand for business space in Makati will always be present and it is an important challenge to create a new town concept in order to accommodate a very crowded old area,” Yoshio Amano, general manager of Mitsubishi’s Manila branch, was quoted in the statement as saying.

“Tokyo is continually facing such a challenge and Makati now started this stage with limited land available for development. It is our honor to join this development with Century Properties Group,” Mr. Amano said.

CCDCII will finance the 35-storey project through a P2.3-billion equity infusion from CCDC and Mitsubishi, and a 10-year, P2.2-billion senior loan granted by the Bank of Philippine Islands.

Slated for completion in 2019, The Forbes Media Tower will have a total gross floor area of approximately 95,000 square meters. It aims to become an address of choice for multinational as well as leading BPO corporations.

Shares of CPG fell nearly 3% to P0.48 apiece on Wednesday. —