Property giant Megaworld is developing its first township development in Mindanao, the Davao Park District.

Located on a 11-hectare property along the S.P. Dakudao Loop in Lanang, Davao City which used to be the Lanang Golf and Country Club, Davao Park District is envisioned to be Davao City’s central business district (CBD) and a major center for information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) in Mindanao.

Megaworld is allocating P15-billion in the next five to seven years to build and develop Davao Park District.

“Davao City is the economic center of Mindanao. This is the best place to build our very first township in Southern Philippines, which we envision to be Mindanao’s new central business district. In Davao Park District, the people of Mindanao can finally experience Megaworld’s pioneering LIVE-WORK-PLAY-LEARN township concept,” says Dr. Andrew L. Tan, chairman and chief executive officer, Megaworld.

First to rise in the township will be office towers suited for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies and other corporate offices.

Based on a recent study by third-party research firm Colliers Research International, Megaworld remains to be the country’s no. 1 office developer and landlord.

Megaworld recently announced that its office space inventory would reach 712,000 square meters this year, the biggest in the industry.

“As the country’s largest office developer and landlord, we will also be bringing our expertise and leadership in the development of state-of-the-art office towers to Davao City. We hope to bring in new BPO locators to set up operations in the city,” says Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer, Megaworld.

Aside from office towers, Davao Park District will also feature themed residential condominiums that will be built by Suntrust, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld.

The township will also have a lifestyle mall, commercial and retail strips, and a school.

“We are excited to revitalize the landscape of Davao City with our LIVE-WORK-PLAY-LEARN concept for this mixed-use development. This is like bringing Eastwood City to Mindanao,” reveals Tan.

Davao Park District will be Megaworld’s 10th township in the Philippines. In 1999, the company introduced its first township, the 17-hectare Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, which is known to be the country’s first cyberpark that saw the birth of the BPO industry in the Philippines. Other successful townships developed by Megaworld include the 50-hectare McKinley Hill, the 5-hectare Forbes Town Center, the 34.5-hectare McKinley West, and the 15.4-hectare Uptown Bonifacio, all in Fort Bonifacio; the 25-hectare Newport City in Pasay City which is home to the famous Resorts World Manila; the 12.3-hectare Woodside City along C-5, Pasig City; the 28.8-hectare The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu; the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.