Originally posted in Iloilo Business Park Breaks Ground; Initial Plans Revealed:

Iloilo Business Park Project Overview

• 54.5 hectares total land area, the largest IT park yet of publicly-listed Megaworld Corporation
• P18B investment by Megaworld over the next 10 years
• P2.5 billion initial investment over the next two years to develop the road network
• Expected to create 24,000 BPO seats, 200,000 square meters of commercial space, and around 35,000 jobs.
• A six-lane highway will serve as the main artery running through the entire length of the property
• Philippine Economic Zone Authority certified (IT) park in January 2010. BPO locators will be entitled to income tax holidays, duty-free importation of office equipment and repatriation of earnings, among others.

Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower

• 12-storey building
• Hotel component will host 90 guest rooms, which will cater to businessmen and tourists
• Seventh level amenities deck features play amenities such as a lap pool, children’s pool and fitness center, while the business center on the same level will include meeting rooms and a conference room.
• Richmonde Tower will occupy the second to sixth floors of the hotel, offering more than 9,000 square meters of prime office space for BPO locators.
• Projected completion in the last quarter of 2012

Festive Walk

• Two kilometers total length, which will be the longest shopping and dining strip in the Philippines
• Initial 200 meter section of the Festival Walk will be opened alongside Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower

Le Grand Richmonde Hotel

• High-end Hotel counterpart of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo with convention facilities
• Construction to begin after the completion of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo

Two Addt’l BPO Towers

• Five storey twin towers
• Construction to begin after the completion of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower

Click Photo to Zoom In

Ground Breaking Ceremony of Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower on May 6, 2011

Read the rest of Iloilo Business Park Breaks Ground; Initial Plans Revealed (18 comments)

The 12-storey Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Richmonde Tower will host 90 guest rooms and full-service amenities, which will occupy the ground level and 7th to 12th floor. In addition, The Richmonde Tower will occupy the second to sixth floors of the hotel, offering more than 9,000 square meters of prime office space for BPO locators. Its seventh-level amenities deck features play amenities such as a lap pool, children’s pool and fitness center, while the business center on the same level will include meeting rooms and a conference room.

Richmonde Hotel Iloilo is the third project of Megaworld under this hotel brand. The hotel is projected to serve businessmen and tourists who flock annually to witness Iloilo City’s historic and colorful festivals.

After the completion of the Richmonde Hotel, another hotel catering to the high-end market and a convention center will be developed. The newer and more upscale hotel is named “Le Grand Richmonde Hotel.”

At 54.5 hectares, Iloilo Business Park is the largest IT park yet of publicly-listed Megaworld Corporation, the country’s #1 business process outsourcing (BPO) office landlord. The master plan for the entire community includes hotels, BPO office towers, a convention center, a skills training center and retail components.

Richmonde Hotel Iloilo – Main Lobby (screen grab from Gettys Website)

Read the rest of Richmonde Park Hotel to rise in Iloilo Business Park (12 comments)

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From well … space, Iloilo looks quite messy compared to other cities in the country. This could be owed to the fact that Iloilo is an old city and no careful urban planning was done during waves of urbanization over the decades. Urban development is densest in the city proper, which then stretches either inland or southwards. Although, quite dense there are still large spaces of land, mostly utilized for fishponds or saltbeds, in between or just beside the dense areas.

One such area is the area around the airport in Mandurriao, where majority of the land there is owned by a few individuals/families and development was limited because of proximity to the airport. Another is the area near the Jaro River, found at the northern and eastern portions, which has a low desirability for development because the area gets easily flooded whenever the river overspills during heavy rains.

Iloilo Seaports

The hive of Iloilo’s seaport operations in the Iloilo River Wharf, a natural harbor considered as one of the safest in the world. Docked at the river wharf are cargo ships and along it are ferry and RORO terminals servicing the Iloilo-Bacolod, Guimaras, Palawan Routes. Near the mouth of the River is the Domestic Port and further south is the Fort San Pedro. Iloilo’s International Port is located in La Paz District, at the northeastern part of the City.

Iloilo City Proper

This is a part of the Downtown of Iloilo City, the other parts are inconveniently covered by clouds. Dominating the cityscape of Iloilo are its malls, which reflects the city’s consumer driven economy. Robinsons Place is the largest mall in the city proper followed by Marymart Center, which is composed of three buildings connected by bridges. Near Marymart are: SM Delgado, Amigo, and The Atrium (not shown in picture). Calle Real is the old shopping district of Iloilo City and the hive of downtown Iloilo. It’s a great place to look for inexpensive buys.

This is one of the Provincial Gov’t lots in the city. At the far right is the Iloilo Provincial Capitol. Beside it is the Old Rehabilitation Center (Square-shaped building), Museo Iloilo (Green Roof), and the Department of Tourism (White Roof) regional Office. The large building at the left side is the Hall of Justice and the white building in front of it is Castle Hotel.

Diversion Road Area

The area surrounding Benigno Aquino Jr. Ave. (more commonly known as Diversion road) looks like its mostly composed of idle land, fishponds, and salt beds. It’s actually a prime space in Iloilo and will be the future Central Business District of the City. This satellite photo was shot in 2005 and you could still see a plane in the airport terminal. It’s closed now after the new airport in Santa Barbara was completed and the old airport lot was bought by Megaworld Corp, one of the country’s largest property developers. Other prominent places in the area is SM City, Iloilo’s largest mall and Smallville, a complex of restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, bars, and clubs.

In case you’re wondering low long SM City’s length is, well its 200 meters.

Molo District

This is Molo. The building shaped like a cross in the right side is ofcourse the Molo Church and infront of it is the Molo Public Plaza. The subdivision in the upper left with the swimming pools is Southville.

Jaro District

This is Jaro District, the most populous district of the city. The cross-shaped building is the Jaro Church and infront of it is, yes you’ve guessed it, the Jaro Plaza

La Paz District

This is La Paz District. I decided to post this picture instead of the plaza-church area. The big building is Gaisano Capital Mall.

During the next post, I’ll be posting the different schools and hospitals in Iloilo City.

Amigo Rennovation

Read the rest of Iloilo Projects and Contructions May 2008 Update (30 comments)

Aerial view of Megaworld Property. Photo by Bernardo Arellano III
Read the rest of Concept Plan of Megaworld’s “Iloilo Business Park” (102 comments)

Aerial view of Megaworld Property. Photo by Bernardo Arellano III

The corporation hired the services of Palafox and Associates to make their master plan in the old airport site. The proposed 54.5 hectare Iloilo Business Park by Megaword will adopt a concept of “live-work-play-learn community.” It will have BPO offices, residential condominiums, a hotel, convention center, commercial and retail center, skills training center and recreational facilities. The investment by Megaworld in Iloilo is the first investment made by the corporation outside Manila.

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