Megaworld's Marriott hotel in Pasay City faces delay

BY JENNEE GRACE U. RUBRICO, BusinessWorld Senior Reporter Plans of property developer Megaworld Corp. to open a first-class hotel that will be run by hotel chain Marriott in Pasay City have been pushed back due to the delays in the transfer of the property from the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA). In an interview Thursday, Megaworld Investor Relations Officer John Marson T. Hao said the developer could not start construction of the 350-room Marriott Hotel because the facilities in the Villamor Air Base need to be replicated and relocated somewhere else before these could be demolished. Megaworld has a joint venture with the BCDA to turn the 25-hectare property of the Philippine Air Force into a mixed-use development. Called Newport City, it will have residential developments, commercial areas, office space, and leisure and tourism components. Currently, the property has schools, barracks and other structures that have yet to be removed. The Marriott Hotel, the only one so far that will be located beside the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, was slated for completion by 2008. However, with the delays, it is unlikely to open before 2009, Mr. Hao said. "Construction of the hotel can only start once the property is turned over by the government. They haven't turned over the whole area because the replication has not been completed," he said. He said if the government turns over the 25-hectare property by middle of this year, the hotel will not be opened until 2009. "And it's unlikely that it will be turned over in the middle of the year," he said. Replication and the transfer of the facilities were supposed to have been completed last year, or two years after the signing of the joint venture between the BCDA and Megaworld. Currently, however, less than 50% of the 25-hectare area has been cleared, Mr. Hao said. BCDA Vice-President Aileen Anunciacion R. Zosa told BusinessWorld the proponents are trying to exercise prudence in the replication and transfer of the facilities so that they would incur as little cost as possible. Replication costs are estimated to hit P889 million based on 2003 prices, she said. "The private investor will advance the replication costs, but this will later on be deduced from the revenues," she said. She added the design of the facilities is also still being finalized. Mr. Hao said the design of the hotel is still being studied by Marriott. Megaworld wants Marriott to act as its technical adviser during the planning, designing, construction, and furnishing stages of the project to ensure the hotel will be built and furnished according to international standards. "They're still looking at the plans," Mr. Hao said. The Marriott Hotel in Newport City will be the first to carry the brand in Metro Manila and the second in the Philippines after Cebu. Newport City, bounded by Andrews Avenue and Sales Street, borders the Villamor golf course on the east side and faces the new terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on the west side. It is a five-minute drive from Magallanes Village in Makati City. Megaworld wants to develop the township project into one of Asia's most exciting hotel-and-golf resorts, with guests at the Marriott Hotel enjoying the unobstructed front-row views of the 18-hole Villamor golf course.