Ayala Land's Metro Nuvali Poised to Become New Green CBD in the South

Ayala Land, Inc. is positioning its planned Metro Nuvali development project as the next premier central business district and capital in the CALABARZON region and the south, as more enterprises make the move to Laguna and the Greater Manila Area.

Metro Nuvali will also see the rise of Ayala Malls Nuvali, a refresh of the Solenad property with an additional 50,000 square meters of retail space.

ALSO READ:

Ayala Malls and Summit Outdoor Media’s Game-Changing Partnership

It's Official: Ayala Land Acquires New World Hotel Makati

The new central business district is seen as Ayala Land playing the long game through a sustainable space where residents don't have to look far to work, shop, or even pray, with a Parish also set to be built.

The 50,000 square meters of retail space, or what Metro Nuvali will call the Lakeside District, is set to break ground next year, right on time for the Carmona-Biñan Link Road's expected completion in 2028.

Ayala Land says the new CBD will be sectioned into three areas: the Lakeside District (100 hectares), the Central District (40 hectares), and the Civic District (60 hectares).

Lakeside will include the aforementioned Ayala Malls Nuvali, while the Central District will hold modern office towers and workspaces, and a connection ot the East Bloc Garden. The Civic District will host the Santa Rosa Civic Complex, which includes a center, church, hotel, command center, and a two-hectare satellite city hall.

All three areas will be connected to the broad Nuvali estate via major roads and recently built public transport infrastructure, and of course, green pedestrian networks, according to Ayala Land.

Metro Nuvali will also be home to burgeoning businessmen, the expected business process outsourcing companies, and even prominent schools.

"We’re seeing entrepreneurs, we’re seeing professionals coming in, and BPOs who continue to be interested," according to Ayala Land Estates Vice President and Group Head Christopher Maglanoc.

"International schools are also interested. They’re looking at opportunities to grow."

In a geographical context, the 200-hectare development project will be within the 2,500-hectare Nuvali estate covering Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, and Calamba. The entire Nuvali project is traced back to the 2009 Ayala Land tie-up with the Yulo family, who own the property.

“When we look at the plans from 16 years ago, this is the area identified as a CBD, so it’s [part of] a vision,” the Ayala Land executive noted.

Ayala Malls Chief Operating Officer Paul Birkett

For Ayala Malls Chief Operating Officer Paul Birkett, Nuvali's ageing mall is in dire need of a revival, especially as the area is set to have a monumental refresh with new businesses already showing interest.

"It's showing its age, a bit like me," Birkett told the media at a press briefing, with a tinge of humor.

He added that it was more than just putting on a coat of paint on the "very dark, very constrained" place without air conditioning.

"It's not just about shopping in the Philippines. People visit the malls as centres of community and hubs where they can integrate," the Ayala Malls executive said.

About 35 million people visit what is still being called Solenad, which is why Ayala Malls is aiming to make the place a place people are proud of.

Although this project is expected to need serious bankrolling to get going, Birkett and Maglanoc admit that they cannot say how much exactly it would cost, but that "several billion pesos" are going into both reinvestment and new construction.

Ayala Land Senior Vice President and Group Head at Ayala Land Estates Christopher Maglanoc

Ayala Land says it is high time for this development to kick off since Nuvali has never been more connected to Metro Manila than it is now.

Once again, getting into Metro Nuvali won't be too difficult once the aforementioned Carmona–Biñan Link Road opens, which will expand avenues to the South Luzon Expressway, Cavite–Laguna Expressway, and Cavite–Batangas Expressway.

"I live in Makati. Makati, Manila, Pasig, all those places, they're busy places," Birkett reflects.

"There's a lot of capacity. If you look at how other cities globally have developed, eventually they start to move out of it."

Metro Nuvali may be a catalyst for employment and industry growth in the south, even after Ayala Land's development of the recent Arca South area on the border of Taguig and Parañaque

To crunch the numbers, the local economy of the province covering Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon grew by 5.56 percent last year, a tad lower than the national growth rate of 5.7 percent, based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

"We just need to make sure that we resonate with the type of customer that calls Nuvali their home," Birkett said.

READ MORE:

It's Official: Ayala Land Acquires New World Hotel Makati