Filipino Olympic gymnast Carlos Yulo is set to receive a fully furnished three-bedroom condo unit in McKinley Hill worth P32 million from real-estate company Megaworld Corporation and a house and lot in Tagaytay among other perks after his historic double gold-medal finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In a statement on Monday, Megaworld announced that they had upgraded the Olympian’s prize from a two-bedroom into a three-bedroom unit in the 50-hectare McKinley Hill township within Fort Bonifacio along with a P3 million cash incentive following his second gold medal win. Yulo won the top prize for the men’s artistic gymnastics floor exercises and earned a second gold medal for his artistic gymnastics vault routine the following day. To mark his achievement, Megaworld promised to reward Yulo with a “designed and fully furnished” unit with two balconies, a separate housekeeper’s room and a parking slot.
Aside from the city condo, the 24-year-old gymnast will receive a house in Tagaytay City. The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), through its president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and the incumbent mayor of Tagaytay, also guaranteed a house and lot for Yulo in the country’s alternative summer capital.
Various companies, including malls and furniture providers, have likewise pledged cash gifts and services to address Yulo’s future housing and property development needs. SM Group has pledged P1 million worth of products from SM Retail, from both the department stores and supermarkets, consumable within a year. Apollo Home Depot has pledged to give Yulo free furniture worth P100,000 including a free cash vault to keep his prize winnings. Engineering and construction firm Nexa Engineering has also offered the Olympian a lifetime of free engineering design services.
McKinley Hill: Home of Filipino champions
Property giant Megaworld, led by Andrew Tan, first announced that it would reward every Filipino Olympic gold medalist with a two-bedroom condo unit valued at P24 million in the McKinley Hill Township in Taguig City on August 1. So far, Yulo is the only Filipino athlete to take home not just one, but two gold medals in this year’s tilt.
“Since this is a very significant milestone in the history of Philippine sports to have two gold Olympic medals during our 100th year participation as a country in the Olympics, which also coincides with our company’s 35th anniversary this year, we are boosting our reward for Carlos Yulo now totaling to P35-million,” Megaworld President Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso said in a statement on Monday, August 5. “He truly deserves this and we will always be proud of him for taking Filipino excellence to the next level.”
They tout McKinley Hill as “one of the most celebrated addresses in Fort Bonifacio” being the home to “several world-class athletes, including members of the Philippine national teams for basketball and football.”
McKinley Hill is currently one of Megaworld’s biggest townships in Metro Manila. Located beside Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig, a major financial hub, McKinley Hill is known for its upscale, exclusive residences near offices, dining and leisure areas. It is home to the exclusive McKinley Hill Village, residential condos and villas, office towers, schools, foreign embassies and the McKinley Hill Stadium, one of the country’s most modern football stadiums.
“This makes it a perfect home for Filipino champions who live a life of passion and excellence through and through,” according to MegaWorld.
While the specific unit has yet to be disclosed as of writing, Megaworld currently has several projects in the McKinley Hill Township including villa-type enclaves, gated condominium clusters, and high-rise condominium towers.
The Venice Luxury Residences incorporates Venetian architecture and landscapes, centered on the iconic grand canal that flows through the township center. According to Megaworld’s website, the property boasts of loft-type penthouse units with individual balconies, podium-level amenities, and podium commercial establishments connected to the Venice Grand Canal. The property, composed of seven towers, shares an “amenity area with landscaped gardens, a swimming pool complex, sauna and jacuzzi, and a fitness station,” fitting for any athlete.
St. Mark Residences, also located within McKinley Hill, is a 23-story condo development directly connected to the iconic Venice Grand Canal Mall. The property boasts various units ranging from compact studios to spacious three-bedroom cuts of up to 120 square meters.
Property perks for Olympians
This isn’t the first time that real estate developers have rewarded the hard work and efforts of Filipino athletes.
Hidilyn Diaz, who won the country’s first-ever gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, was previously presented with a P14-million two-bedroom condo in Eastwood by Megaworld and a house and lot valued at P4 million by Century Properties Group. Megaworld gifted the weightlifter with a fully furnished two-bedroom condominium in One Eastwood Avenue, a 47-story property with direct access to an array of modern facilities, that embodies the property’s “work-live-play lifestyle”. According to Megaworld, the unit was specially curated by the company’s in-house interior design team and came complete with furniture, fixtures and appliances for the athlete.
The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) also graciously gifted the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz, silver medalist Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam, and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial with a house and lot in Tagaytay three years ago.
Diaz’s two-story 220-square meter furnished house, located at Isabel Heights, Barangay Kaybagal Central in Tagaytay City is valued at close to P5 million. In honor of the residents, the street in Tagaytay where all the athlete’s homes are located has aptly been named “Olympic Lane.”
