Ayala to invest P5 billion for malls, offices and properties

Ayala Land Inc., the Ayala Group’s listed property giant, is investing P5.1 billion in new malls, offices and properties that form part of its portfolio of ongoing and future real estate projects in Metro Manila.

The P5.1 billion comes from the sale of Ayala Land to AREIT of The 30th, its mixed-used retail and commercial property in Pasig. AREIT is the newly listed real estate investment trust of the Ayala Group with Ayala Land as its sponsor.

“Ayala Land intends to use proceeds received from the sale of The 30th to AREIT to fund ongoing and future investments in real estate properties in Metro Manila and other key regions in the Philippines, which Ayala Land may undertake on its own or through other subsidiaries, each an Ayala Land subsidiary,” ALI said in its re-investment plan for The 30th.

On the list of ongoing and new projects which ALI intends to fund with the P5.1 billion sale proceeds from AREIT are Parklinks malls and offices, Gatewalk Central malls and offices; One Ayala malls; One Ayala BPO and future properties in Cavite, Pampanga, and Tarlac.

For Parklinks, which is a joint venture between the Ayala Group and Lucio Tan’s Eton Properties, ALI will develop a five-story mall with approximately 50,000 square meters in gross leasable area and a BPO tower with 13,000 sqm of GLA, slated to be completed in 2024.

The Gatewalk project in Cebu, meanwhile, is a four-level mall with 115,000 sqm of GLA and a nine-level office space on top with a 20 sqm GLA. This is targeted for completion in 2023.

Another project is a mall building in One Ayala in Makati, which is a five story regional mall with trade hall facilities with a size of 50,000 sqm. Also in the investment plan is a BPO in One Ayala, which is a two-tower office development with a size of 74,000 sqm.

The rest of the P5.1 billion funding will be used for land acquisition in planned developments in Cavite, Pampanga, and Tarlac. Acquisition is ongoing, but details of the projects are still not immediately available.

The 30th is a 19-story PEZA-accredited commercial development located along Meralco Avenue in Pasig which was completed in 2017.

AREIT believes that with The 30th, its revenues will continue to be driven by the resilient office sector, while volatility and occupancy risk from retail operations will be well managed with the guaranteed building lease payments to AREIT.

In all, AREIT is targeting to achieve 10 to 12 percent total shareholder return through organic growth and new acquisitions.

This article was originally published by PhilStar.