Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) is working on various projects to upgrade and modernize Filinvest City in Alabang, Muntinlupa City to make the 244-hectare central business district in the southern part of Metro Manila a sustainable development.
“We have a long-term commitment to the continued success of Filinvest City. We chose a balanced trading and leasing strategy, and we continue to own a large portion of the city that makes it worthwhile to continue investing in sustainable solutions,” president and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap said.
The sustainability projects in the pipeline include a solar rooftop on Festival Mall and a water treatment facility within the CBD.
“Despite being planned 20 years ago, Filinvest City is the first and only CBD in the country that’s Gold Certified under the LEED Neighborhood development program and remains the largest in Southeast Asia. This is because from the start we have adhered to the basics of sustainability, and we continue to invest and upgrade our facilities to take advantage of new technologies. FC is proof of concept on how sustainability improves quality of life, which in turn affirms the development’s brand value, and ultimately enhances land values,” Gotianun-Yap said.
Currently, the company official said they are working with Engie Services Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. to put up a 1.9-megawatt (MW) solar rooftop project on Festival Mall to reduce its energy consumption and carbon emissions.
FDC’s subsidiary, FDC Utilities Inc. (FDCUI), partnered with Engie in 2018 to form Filinvest ENGIE Renewable Energy Enterprise Inc. (FREE).
FREE, which is 60-percent owned by FDCUI and 40 percent by ENGIE, will primarily engage in the installation and operation of renewable energy facilities, particularly solar rooftop projects.
“We are now moving towards using solar energy as costs are becoming competitive. Our renewable energy joint venture company with Engie is currently putting up a solar panel rooftop for Festival Mall, which is among the top 20 largest malls in SEA. The 1.9-MW of solar photovoltaic panels can serve 31 percent of the mall’s peak demand with an average cost savings of 27 percent for every electron supplied,” Gotianun-Yap said.
Another major development is a water treatment facility and wastewater treatment plant for Filinvest City.
FDC partnered with Hitachi Aqua-Tech Engineering Pte Ltd. to develop “for future-ready and sustainable water solutions that will not only address Filinvest City’s current demands but will also cover estate requirements upon full build-out,” Gotianun-Yap said.
“We have our permits to do a water treatment facility to use water from the Laguna Lake for the city’s potable water source, a more sustainable solution rather than relying on deep wells that can deplete our aquifers,” she said.
“We likewise have plans for an expanded sewage/wastewater treatment plant that ultimately aims to enhance our management of wastewater and human waste and improve public health and sanitation. At the same time, it will allow Filinvest City to continue recycling its effluent and using this for landscape irrigation, therefore minimizing use of potable water,” the company official said.
The Filinvest group, through Filinvest REIT Corp. (formerly Cyberzone Properties Inc.), received the go-ahead of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its sustainability-themed real estate investment trust (REIT) offering of P14.92 billion.
The maiden REIT offering will carry a portfolio of over 300,000 square meters of gross leasable area from modern office developments in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City.
“We pioneered the country’s first campus style IT park and built up an 18-hectare economic zone within Filinvest City now composed of over 20 Grade A buildings serving this industry. Today, 16 of these buildings form part of our 300,000 sqm Filinvest REIT offering this August which has a distinct sustainability feature and allows the investing public to participate in the rental income streams derived from the BPO and e-commerce space, one of the most resilient growth industries of our country,” Gotianun-Yap said.