Racetrack operator Manila Jockey Club Inc. said Wednesday it agreed to sell a 2.21-hectare property in Sta. Cruz, Manila to developer Megaworld Corp. for P1.88 billion.
The property forms part of the 16-hectare San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park—a mixed-use development in Manila and the former site of the San Lazaro Hippodrome.
“The definitive sale agreements shall be executed upon the submission of closing documents to the satisfaction of buyer,” said MJCI in a disclosure to the stock exchange
Megaworld said in a separate disclosure the acquisition would expand the group’s portfolio in Manila.
“Currently, our big projects in the city of Manila are concentrated in Binondo district, particularly within our Lucky Chinatown project where we have a lifestyle mall, condominium towers, a cultural museum and a hotel. When we finalize the purchase of this land in San Lazaro, this will surely be part of our township portfolio expansion in Metro Manila,” said Megaworld chief strategy officer Kevin Tan.
Megaworld has around 300 hectares of land bank across the National Capital Region covering nine integrated urban townships and lifestyle estates in Quezon City, Taguig City, Pasay City, Parañaque City, Las Piñas City, Pasig City and Manila.
The company has close to 5,000 hectares of land bank across the Philippines.
MJCI started to redevelop its old racetrack after transferring its horse racing operations to a 77-hectare property in Carmona, Cavite in 2003.
San Lazaro Business and Tourism Park includes Winford Hotel and Casino; SM San Lazaro, a regional destination mall now undergoing a substantial uplift and upgrading; the high-end Celadon Residences townhome community and Alveo Towers condominium projects; Vertex One, the first truly IT-dedicated and systems-redundant office tower to be built in the core of Metro Manila and a dedicated PEZA facility for business process outsourcing firms and other technology dedicated businesses.
The residential condominium and office towers were undertaken via a joint venture between MJCI and Ayala Land Inc.
The share price of MJCI closed lower by 3.36 percent Wednesday to P2.30, while the stock price of Megaworld slipped 0.31 percent to P3.18.
