Filinvest Land bags BCDA contract to develop 288-ha. Clark Green City
Gotianun-owned Filinvest Land, Inc. yesterday bagged the right as the joint venture of state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) for the development of the 288-hectare Clark Green City.
BCDA said in a statement after FLI, the lone bidder, submitted a valid bid with 160 million in development premium payable upon signing of the contract. With that, FLI will become BCDA’s joint venture partner for the development of Clark Green City.
Ayala Land, Inc. and Megaworld Corp. both secured the bid documents for the selection of BCDA’s joint venture partner in the development of 288 hectares of Clark Green City, but only FLI submitted a bid at yesterday’s bidding. Under the bid’s Terms of Reference (TOR), the minimum acceptable development premium bid was 160 million.
“We are excited to move forward with our new joint-venture partner and start building what will be known as the country’s first ever smart, green and disaster-resilient metropolis that is expected to significantly improve the lives of our countrymen,” BCDA President and CEO Arnel Paciano D. Casanova said.
He said Filinvest, as BCDA’s partner, will play a significant role in accelerating the development of Clark Green City.
“We are happy to have Filinvest to be a partner because this will bring the strengths of BCDA as the developer of the Bonifacio Global City, and Filinvest as the developer of the 244-hectare Filinvest City in Alabang and recently the newest Cebu business district — a 5-billion business process outsourcing (BPO) complex called Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu,” Casanova said.
He added that the country’s envisioned most modern metropolis is seen to become the “center of economic development in the country.”
BCDA and the winning bidder will form of a Joint Venture Corporation (JVC) to be owned 45 percent by BCDA and 55 percent by the winning bidder. The joint venture has a life span of 50 years renewable for another 50 years. The JVC shall have the full development and usufructuary rights over the 288-hectare property.
Casanova said the usufructuary right would be converted to full land ownership if and when the law so allows in the future, subject to mutual agreement of the
two parties.
The BCDA together with the Department of Public Works and Highways is now building the main access roads leading to Clark Green City.
BCDA has also teamed up with Pag-IBIG Fund to build some 2,000 affordable mixed income housing units for the future employees working in Clark Green City. The housing project will make Clark Green City inclusive and affordable for the minimum wage earners and even cater to the 85,000 workers in the Clark Freeport Zone.
Last August, the BCDA and the University of the Philippines signed an agreement for the establishment of a UP Clark Green City Campus in a 70-hectare area. Groundbreaking is seen in the first quarter of 2016.
Also last month, the Government of Japan (GOJ) through the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) forged a cooperation agreement with the BCDA to help the Aquino Administration develop and build Clark Green City as a major economic center in the ASEAN bloc.
According to Casanova, the involvement of the JOIN will lead to multiple joint venture partnerships that will serve as a vehicle for the formation of Japanese consortium and investments in the field of power, transportation, tollways, industrial zones and economic centers
“The Japanese government will help transform Clark Green City into a major economic center of the ASEAN economic bloc,” he said.
The entire Clark Green City is a 9,450hectare master planned property within the Clark Special Economic Zone in the province of Tarlac, Philippines and is envisioned to be the first smart, disaster-resilient and green city in the Philippines.
At full development, Clark Green City will have some 1.12 million residents, 800,000 workers and contribute a gross output of approximately 1.57 trillion per year to the national economy or roughly four percent share in the county’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Located at the Clark Special Economic Zone, Clark Green City is positioned strategically between highly urbanizing cities of San Fernando, Angeles and Olongapo in Central Luzon as well as the cities of San Carlos, Dagupan and Urdaneta in Northern Luzon. It is also near the Clark International Airport and the Subic Seaport.
The strategic location and its connectivity to major cities in Central Luzon through the country’s expressways like NLEX, SCTEX, TPLEX and soon the CLEX will allow the convergence from north, east, south, and west, and serve a catchment population of some 12 million people.