Megaworld to build P6.5-B upscale village in Cavite

By Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson, Reporter

PROPERTY developer Megaworld Corp. announced that it is launching its first premium residential village in its Maple Grove township in General Trias, Cavite.

The Andrew L. Tan-led company expects the project to generate P6.5 billion in sales. It will be hiking its capital expenditure budget accordingly. It previously announced that it would spend approximately P15 billion for the township.

Maple Grove Park Village spans 22 hectares and offers 377 lots, ranging from 280 to over 500 square meters. Each lot in the village will cost from P14 million to P27 million and will be ready for turnover to owners by 2026.

The community is “luxury resort-inspired” and is designed by architectural firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo. It will feature 10 different parks, communal gardens, wellness and fitness areas, among others. Around 40% of the property will also be allocated to green and open spaces.

“Maple Grove Park Village is inspired by contemporary tropical architecture that naturally exudes a sense of ease and warmth perfectly suited for a resort-style residential settings,” said Megaworld Vice-President for Sales and Marketing Eugene Em Lozano.

“The village will be strategically located in the more secluded part of Maple Grove to give residents utmost exclusivity and privacy, while still allowing them to have access to all the modern conveniences that the township has to offer,” he added.

The village is part of Megaworld’s Maple Grove project, which is targeted to be Cavite’s first modern central business district.

The 140-hectare township features commercial, residential, office, and mixed-use developments.

These include The Verdin and La Cassia Residences condominiums, 17-storey office building One Corporate Place, and lifestyle mall Maple Grove Town Center, among other planned projects.

ALLIANCE GLOBALSeparately, Megaworld’s parent firm Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI) reported a 52% surge in net income to owners in the first quarter to P3.9 billion. Consolidated revenues grew by 18% to P37.5 billion.

“AGI continued with its impressive growth momentum in the first quarter of the year as the overall improvement in mobility has allowed all our businesses to perform further closer to pre-pandemic levels, boosting revenues of our lifestyle malls, hotels and our quick service restaurants,” AGI Chief Executive Kevin Andrew L. Tan said in a statement.

“This upturn is reflective of the underlying strength in domestic economy, just waiting to be unleashed,” he added.

The company is engaged in various businesses, including real estate development through property giant Megaworld.

In the first quarter, Megaworld reported that its attributable net income was up by 30% to P3.1 billion. Real estate sales grew 36% to P8.1 billion on the back of increased project completion, while reservation sales went up 12% to P23.2 billion.

The company also noted higher occupancy rates and hotel and mall revenues, driven by pent-up consumer spending and the rebound in tourism.

AGI’s spirit manufacturing arm, Emperador, Inc., reported a modest 2% increase in consolidated revenues to P12.3 billion. It said the growth “indicates the resilience of global demand” for its premium liquor brands, primarily its whisky products, which posted a robust sales growth of 20% year on year.

“Its brandy segment, however, was impacted by rising costs, capping overall profit margins,” it added.

The company’s quick service restaurants through Golden Arches Development Corp. (GADC) tripled their attributable net income to P258 million in the first quarter. Consolidated revenues jumped by 27% to P7.2 billion. The company handles McDonald’s Philippines.

“Armed with the learnings we have acquired in the past couple of years, we target to achieve our pre-pandemic performance this year. We remain confident and optimistic of our growth prospects even in the face of current domestic and global headwinds,” Mr. Tan added.

At the stock exchange on Thursday, Megaworld shares rose 0.37% or a centavo to P2.74 each, while AGI shares ended higher by 1.94% or 20 centavos to close at P10.52 apiece.