Iloilo Business Park

Iloilo Business Park is a 72-hectare (180-acre)^[1] mixed-use master-planned community development in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, Philippines by Megaworld Corporation. It is located on the property of the former Iloilo Airport which the conglomerate acquired for 1.2 billion pesos from the national government.^[2] Megaworld is projected to pour in P25 billion for the entire development in a span of years.^[3] It is an integrated township project that will feature a commercial district, a lifestyle mall, office buildings catering to business process outsourcing firms, boutique and deluxe hotels, and a convention center.^[4]

Initial development includes construction of a road network, the 12-storey Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower, Festive Walk, Two Business Process Outsourcing office buildings. The IT complex has been certified as an information technology park by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), granting locators perks such as tax holidays and duty-free importation of equipment among others.^[5]

Megaworld is setting aside a 9.7-hectare lot for the boutique hotel and commercial district which is being offered to interested business owners.^[6]

Iloilo Business Park increased by an additional 18 hectares, bringing the project to roughly 72 hectares from its initial 54.5 hectare-size. This is due to the increasing demand for residential and commercial properties and good reception to Megaworld's first development in the region^[1] and biggest township in the Visayas, modeled after the live-work-play approach that it claims to have pioneered in the Philippines.^[7]

Residential

One Madison Place Luxury Residences is Megaworld's 1,700-square meter residential development within Iloilo Business Park. It consists of three 10-story mid-rise towers along Megaworld Boulevard. All towers have layouts ranging from studios to two-bedroom units.^[8] Each unit will be pre-furnished and has top-of-the-line amenities separated from the first tower. These include the swimming pool with composite wood deck, aqua fitness pool, outdoor spa, outdoor fitness station, function rooms, children’s play area, reading nook with green wall features, trellised seating area, pocket gardens, and a state-of-the-art fitness gym. An arcade of retail shops is also expected to open at the ground floor.^[9]

Lafayette Park Square is Megaworld's second condominium project within the business park. The 14-story single tower features French and Spanish architectural designs. It contains 289 residential units ranging from studio to three-bedroom units with more than 100 square meters of floor area. Scheduled for completion in 2018, it will feature a third floor amenity deck with a swimming pool and pool lounge, a jacuzzi, a state-of-the-art fitness gym, a spacious social hall, a daycare center and children’s play area, a reading nook and garden, and a covered sitting area. The ground level will also feature commercial and retail shops.^[10][11][12]

The Palladium, introduced on October 2014, is cited to be the tallest modern luxury residential condominium in Western Visayas. Standing 80 meters high at 22 stories, The Palladium will also be the region's first residential tower with its own skygardens in various floors overlooking Iloilo. A total of 482 units ranging from studio (from 29.50 square meters), executive studio (from 39.50 square meters), one-bedroom (from 49.50 square meters) to two-bedrooms (from 83.50 square meters) will be available at The Palladium which will be divided into North Wing and South Wing. At the topmost floor of the tower, there will be exclusive loft units ranging from 76 square meters to 115 square meters.^[13]

Office buildings

Three Megaworld office towers were initially developed to cater mainly to business process outsourcing companies. They combine a total of 25,000 square meters of leasable space and could accommodate a total of 10,000 employees. These are One Global Center, Two Global Center and the Richmonde Tower which also houses the Richmonde Hotel Iloilo. Construction of two more office buildings, namely One Techno Place and Two Techno Place, commenced last 2015 and are set to occupy a total of 19,000 square meters of leasable space housing an additional 8,000 employees.^[14][15]

Hotels

Megaworld's Richmonde Hotel Iloilo^[16] will occupy the ground floor and 7th to 12th floors of the Iloilo Richmonde Tower. It will host 90 guest rooms and cater to businessmen and tourists.^[17] It will have play amenities such as a lap pool, children’s pool and fitness center, while the business center will include meeting rooms and a conference room. Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo will also be put up by Marriott International. The 15-storey hotel will house 314 rooms and suites. Some of its amenities will include a lounge bar, meeting rooms, a swimming pool with pool bar, an outdoor bar and grill, a state-of-the-art gym and a business center.^[18]

Commercial

The Festive Walk Mall will be the first stand alone lifestyle mall by Megaworld outside of Metro Manila and the first upscale mall in Iloilo. It will have two buildings (Main with 4 levels + Annex with 3 levels) housing shops, restaurants, state-of the art facilities including cinemas and event centers. It will also feature a Metro Department Store and Supermarket. The mall is scheduled to open in 2016.^[19]

There is also the Street of Festive Walk, a 1.1-kilometer outdoor commercial and retail strip, which will be the longest shopping and dining strip in the Philippines. It will also open in 2016.^[20][21]

Iloilo Convention Center

The Iloilo Convention Center, a state-of-the-art convention center will be built on a 1.7-hectare of lot in the district of Mandurriao donated by the Megaworld Corp.^[22] It will be funded by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Sen. Franklin Drilon.

References

External links

• Official website
• http://web.archive.org/web/20130716101023/http://www.megaworldcorp.com:80/Projects/Office.aspx