Real Estate News Roundup (March 19 to 25, 2019)

The Uptown Arts residence by real estate giant Megaworld Corporation is a luxury condominium with 452 units and state-of-the-art amenities such as outdoor lounges, a pool deck, an infinity pool, a gym, a daycare, children’s play areas, changing rooms, and showers. The project is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2024. Breaking ground in Uptown Bonifacio in Taguig City, just across the Grand Hyatt Hotel, this high-end off-plan project will be near world-class hospitals, international schools, and is just across Grand Hyatt Hotel [1].

A block away from Uptown Arts is Sunshine Fort, a joint project by the Federal Land and the highly renowned Japanese developers, Nomura Real Estate and Isetan Mitsukoshi. It is also a luxury condominium with its own sky garden, wellness spa, karaoke venues, BBQ terraces, swimming pools, gym, library, and game room. The first tower, which houses 302 units, will be completed by 2022, while the entire edifice will be finished by 2025. It offers a total of 1,395 units [2].

The construction of a 233-unit luxury condominium named The Imperium is spearheaded by the Ortigas and Company. Situated at Camino Verde Road in Pasig City, the condo’s facilities include an infinity edge pool, an outdoor play area, landscaped garden decks, a gym and recreation room, a residents’ lounge, and other high-end amenities for its clienteles. Even before it is completed, the project has already been a recipient of the “Best Luxury Condo Design Award” by leading property site Property Guru in 2018. [3]

In a bid to stop applications for the conversion of agricultural lands into residential, commercial, industrial or institutional uses, the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council has introduced changes to the draft Executive Order (EO) governing land conversion.

Among the changes introduced to the draft EO was a list of exemptions to the proposed two-year moratorium on land conversion. The projects subject to the certification from the concerned government agency and projects deemed to be “urgent, necessary and vital for national development” are also exempted. The exemptions also included energy development projects under the Department of Energy; housing projects under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council; economic zone development projects under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority; and tourism development projects under the Department of Tourism.

However, the draft EO clarified that these exemptions do not mean automatic conversion. The ban was proposed last September by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to account for the “rampant and unchecked conversions” of prime agricultural lands meant for food production and distribution to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries.

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