PNOC tower plan attracts 7-8 prospective corporate investors

About seven to eight companies have been advancing interests on the planned multi-billion iconic tower development of state-run Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

According to executives of the staterun company, 4-5 of these interested investor-groups are Filipino real estate firms; while 2-3 are foreign that are generally Chinese companies.

PNOC President Reuben Lista said the proposed ‘iconic tower’ will be aligned as the other major investment pursuit of the company, although at this stage, it just comes second on their priority list, next to their planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) ventures.

Most of the interested local companies have already submitted ‘scale model’ of how they envisioned the ‘energy tower of the country’ would eventually be concretized into a physical asset.

PNOC though has not categorized these yet as “proposals,” instead the company considers them as “interested parties” in the project.

Once firm project proposals are submitted even on ‘unsolicited basis’ or set off by PNOC for bidding, it was noted that blueprints with their respective costs would also be tendered. Project cost is anticipated to run up to billions of pesos.

As envisaged by Lista and Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, the multistory building could rise as the “Tower of Power” (TOP) to be developed at the current 5.2-hectare PNOC complex and the site-offices of the Department of Energy at the thriving Fort Bonifacio Global City.

The site’s valuation alone had been pegged at R27 billion, according to the state-run firm. And with the propounded iconic tower, the government wants to turn this property into money-making venture moving forward.

The project will be a “skyscraper” that will be uniquely anchored on an energy theme, similar to the Petronas Tower of Malaysia.

Lista previously indicated that the iconic building “will house all government instrumentalities that have something to do with power and energy,” while the rest of it shall be leased to interested private sector entities and business establishments.

The government reckons that it will be more viable to re-develop the Fort Bonifacio PNOC property into an “energy center” that shall integrate commercial centers and similarly turn it into a tourism hub – akin to what its Malaysian state-owned energy counterpart had accomplished at the Petronas tower.