Robinsons developing new township in Pampanga

The Gokongwei Group is betting big on the Clark economic corridor.

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the group’s property unit, is developing a roughly 200-hectare township in Pampanga to capitalize on the growth potential of Central Luzon.

RLC president Frederick Go said the developer believes in the growth potential of Clark given the pipeline of big-ticket infrastructure projects in the area such as an expanded international airport and a massive railway project that will connect Clark to Manila.

“We believe in the Clark area and we think that this will be an important township for the company. The size is close to 200 hectares,” Go said.

The sprawling property, named Mont Clair, would be developed into a mixed-use township with residential and commercial components, hotels and an industrial zone.

“We already finished the masterplan, so there will be residential subdivisions, commercial areas and industrial areas,” he said.

RLC’s parent firm JG Summit Holdings Inc. is part of the consortium that won the 25-year concession agreement for the Clark International Airport’s operations and maintenance contract awarded by the state-owned Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

The North Luzon Airport Consortium is composed of Filinvest Development Corp., the Philippine Airport Group Support Solutions Inc., Changi Airports Philippines (I) Pte. Ltd. and JG Summit Holdings.

With the signing, the consortium can now lay the groundwork for the development of the airport, estimated to cost about P6 billion.

The new terminal will have a capacity to serve eight million passengers per annum, double the current capacity of the existing terminal.

The consortium will promote Clark International as the northern and central Luzon gateway.

Go said RLC may also put up a hotel near the airport to cater to travellers.

During the company’s annual stockholders meeting, shareholders approved the plan of merger with AMVI, a wholly owned property subsidiary of RLC.

The merger seeks to eliminate the duplication of functions, attain greater efficiency and economy in the management of operations and enable the more productive use of properties.