GATCHALIAN’S PLASTIC CITY UP FOR FACE-LIFT INTO URBAN HUB

The legal roadblocks to property giant Ayala Land’s bid to redevelop the Gatchalian family’s 60hectare former plastics manufacturing hub in Valenzuela City into a new mixed-use urban complex have been cleared six years after the parties shook hands for a joint venture.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, Gatchalian-led Wellex Industries Inc. (WIN) said the rehabilitation case of its subsidiaries had been terminated following the settlement of loans with Philippine National Bank.

“In this regard, the properties of its subsidiaries, marked with encumbrances due to the existence of the rehabilitation court case, will now be free from any lien and encumbrances,” the disclosure said.

The termination of the rehabilitation court case allows WIN’s subsidiaries to proceed with the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Avida Land.

Avida Land is the middle-income property development arm of Ayala Land Inc. In 2012, Gatchalian’s Philippine Estates Corp. (PHES) and Avida Land signed a deal to develop 17 hectares of the old “Plastic City” estate.

PHES is one of the owners of the property that Avida Land proposed to develop in Valenzuela but Ayala Land had expressed interest to develop the entire 60-hectare area under a mixed-use master plan.

“It must be noted that the joint venture agreement with Avida Land has not been rescinded. In fact, the termination of the rehabilitation case and the subsequent lifting of the annotations on the titles covering the Plastic City properties are part of the responsibilities of the company under the MOA with Avida Land,” WIN’s disclosure said.

“Now that the court case has been terminated, the annotations pertaining to the encumbrance can be lifted, paving the way for the aforementioned property development to take place,” it added.

The Gatchalians’ Plastic City Industrial Corp. has long ceased its plastics manufacturing and commercial operations due to continued losses, but subsidiaries have leased out its warehouse and building facilities.

It was earlier reported that the redevelopment planned for Plastic City would include an educational complex envisioned to be a smaller version of the UP TechnoHub in Quezon City. There were also plans to build office space to attract business process outsourcing firms.