Century Properties Group, Mitsubishi Break Ground for Forbes Media Tower in Makati

Makati—(PHStocks)—Century Properties Group Inc. (PSE: CPG), through its subsidiary Century City Development Corp. (CCDC), and Mitsubishi Corp., one of Japan’s oldest leading conglomerates, have broken ground for the world’s first Forbes Media Tower, a 35-storey office building that will rise at Century City, Makati, Philippines. The tower is designed to serve the world’s business leaders by providing an environment with premium spaces to conduct business.

The groundbreaking event follows the announcement of the two firms to develop, lease out, and maintain the world’s first Forbes-branded commercial building through a joint venture agreement.

Held at the site of Forbes Media Tower in Century City on Kalayan Avenue, the ceremony was attended by Century Properties and Mitsubishi executives, including Jose E.B. Antonio, chairman and CEO: Marco R. Antonio, COO; Robbie R. Antonio, managing director; and Ricardo P. Cuerva, director and head of construction.

Mitsubishi’s presence was led by Takuya Kuga, Division COO for IFLD; Masahiro Nagaoka, deputy general manager of Mitsubishi Corp. Manila Branch; Kiyoto Asari, manager of ASEAN Team, Real Estate Development & Construction Division; Yoshio Amano, general manager for Manila; Dennis Macalisang, senior assistant manager, Industrial Finance Logistics & Development Division; and Jade Ilagan, junior accounting officer.

The Forbes Media Tower project will be undertaken by Century City Development II Corp. (CCDCII), of which CCDC and Mitsubishi have 60 percent and 40 percent ownership, respectively.

The agreement stipulates that CCDCII shall finance the projected $100 million (PhP4.5billion) total project cost through $51 million (PhP2.3 billion) of equity from CCDC and Mitsubishi, and a 10-year, $49 million (PhP2.2 billion) senior loan granted by the Bank of Philippine Islands (PSE: BPI).

In November 2015, CCDC II and Mitsubishi Corporation signed the loan facility with BPI as lender. Proceeds from the said senior loan agreement will be used to partly finance the PhP4.5-billion Forbes Media Tower®. The balance of PhP2.3 billion will be funded through equity contributions of 60 percent from Century Properties and 40 percent from Mitsubishi.

“The Forbes Media Tower aims to become an address of choice for both multinational as well as leading BPO corporations looking to participate in the booming BPO sector, which generated $21 billion and now employs 1.3 million people, serving as a key growth catalyst and will continue as a growth driver of business in the foreseeable future,” Marco Antonio said.

“We, Mitsubishi Corporation, entered the ASEAN real estate market in 2013 with belief in the long term and sustainable growth in ASEAN countries, especially in the Philippines,” said Mitsubishi’s Takuya Kuga. “After a year of fruitful negotiations with Century, Mitsubishi considers the groundbreaking a significant milestone for the project, “owing not only to good luck, but also to natural good chemistry between Century and Mitsubishi, and also the hard work of both teams. I believe this is just a beginning of our long term relationship.”

“Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to be a part of the Century City development. Our Forbes Media Tower will be the eighth building in Century City. The demand for business space in Makati will always be present and it is an important challenge to create a new town concept in order to accommodate a very crowded old area. Tokyo is continually facing such a challenge and Makati now started this stage with limited land available for development. It is our honor to join this development with Century Properties Group,” said Yoshio Amano.

“I’m particularly proud and honored with our partnership with Mitsubishi. We have very good chemistry. We have a shared vision for the Forbes project, and we value their contributions to this development with their decades of experience in doing projects in the Philippines,” Jose E.B. Antonio said. “We are grateful to our partner for their trust in Century Properties’ experience in building structures of global caliber.”

“This is a historic and groundbreaking moment for Forbes as we extend our brand into the global real estate development market. Forbes has always been an authoritative resource for the world’s business leaders, and this tower further reinforces our long-standing mission,” said Mike Federle, COO of Forbes Media. “The Philippines, with its rapidly growing market, is the perfect location to launch our first Forbes-branded building.”

The Forbes Media Tower will have a total gross floor area of approximately 95,000 square meters. The development is expected for completion in 2019.

Century Properties has expanded its investment portfolio of commercial developments in recent years with the introduction of Century City Mall, the acquisition of the Pacific Star Building Lowrise Tower, and the launch of Centuria Medical Makati, the Philippine’s largest outpatient medical facility that’s also geared to support medical tourism. Aside from investment properties, Century Properties plans to have projects in leisure and tourism and economic housing segments.

Century Properties’ other commercial endeavors include the Asian Century Center in Bonifacio Global City and Novotel Suites Manila, a hotel development, at the Acqua Private Residences in Mandaluyong City.

In 2019, these projects are projected to yield a total gross floor area of about 295,000 square meters.