BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines, March 19, 2015 – Megaworld, the country’s leading developer of integrated urban townships and the biggest office developer and landlord, is investing P35-billion in the next 10 years to build two townships in Negros Occidental.

The first township, to be called THE UPPER EAST, is located on a 34-hectare property that used to be the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company (BMMC) on the eastern side of Bacolod City. It is bounded by Burgos Avenue on the north, Lopez Jaena Street on the west and Circumferential Road on the east and is just across the New Government Center. This prime location, which the locales simply refer to as “East,” is now known to be Bacolod’s booming commercial and business process outsourcing (BPO) district.

Inspired by New York City’s affluent Upper East Side district, THE UPPER EAST will be Bacolod’s own version of an upscale lifestyle district where residential condominiums, malls and commercial centers, BPO office towers, tourism and leisure facilities as well as recreational parks and open spaces are integrated to create an exciting LIVE-WORK-PLAY township, which Megaworld pioneered in the Philippines.

“Finally, the people of Bacolod and Negros will be able to experience what we have offered in Eastwood City, Newport City and McKinley Hill. We are very excited to bring our pioneering LIVE-WORK-PLAY concept to the City of Smiles. We will build THE UPPER EAST with a vision of making it as Bacolod’s new central business district or CBD,” says Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer, Megaworld.

On the northern part of Bacolod, where the famous Sugar Road was built, the second township will soon rise and will be called NORTHHILL. It is located on a 50-hectare property along the new Circumferential Road on the boundary of Talisay City and Bacolod City that has direct access to the new Bacolod-Silay Airport.

A joint development of Megaworld and its wholly owned subsidiary Suntrust Properties, Inc. in partnership with the Lacson Family, NORTHHILL will rise in an area that has a direct link to THE UPPER EAST via the Circumferential Road. It is envisioned to be a refreshing lifestyle district that will house upscale residential villages, mixed-use office and retail developments, leisure and recreational amenities as well as institutional facilities.

“Just as what we have done with our other developments, we will transform the sugarcane fields into a bustling new district. Within five to ten years, we envision this area to be the most sought-after business and lifestyle address for Negrenses,” adds Tan.

Once completed, the two integrated urban townships will generate around 250,000 direct and indirect jobs in BPO, construction, transportation, commercial and retail businesses.

“We are still finalizing the master plans of the two townships. But one thing for sure, we will be able to provide thousands of jobs to the people of Negros once these two developments are completed,” says Tan.

THE UPPER EAST and NORTHHILL are just two of the five township developments that Megaworld is launching this year. Just recently, the company announced that it is aggressively expanding its township portfolio across the country from 15 to 20 with a total township land area of 3,100 hectares by the end of the year.

Last year, the company has introduced five townships in its portfolio covering almost 1,000 hectares of land. These include Woodside City in Pasig City (12.3 hectares); Southwoods City in the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna (561 hectares); Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City (11 hectares); Alabang West in Las Piñas City (62 hectares) and Suntrust Ecotown in Tanza, Cavite (350 hectares).

Other townships include Eastwood City in Quezon City, (18.5 hectares), which holds the distinction of being the country’s first cyberpark; Newport City in Pasay City (25 hectares), which is the home of Resorts World Manila; McKinley Hill (50 hectares), McKinley West (34.5 hectares), Uptown Bonifacio (15.4 hectares) and Forbes Town Center (5 hectares), all in Fort Bonifacio; The Mactan Newtown in Cebu (28.8 hectares); Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City (72 hectares); Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island (150 hectares) and Twin Lakes in Tagaytay (1,300 hectares) of Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI), a subsidiary of Megaworld.