MRT, LRT fuel condominium boom in EDSA and environs!
10/07/2008

High-rise condominium projects have been mushrooming along the expansive Epifanio De los Santos Avenue (EDSA), Metro Manila's premiere artery, thanks in part to accessibility to the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit systems.

For the past several years, EDSA's peripheries are being transformed by high-rise condominium projects that aim to attract a clientele that values ready accessibility to Metro Manila's mass rapid transit system.

These high-rise condominium projects have tended to rise in certain clusters of the superhighway. In Quezon City, rapid development has been observed in the area of the MRT Depot near North Avenue. The last stop in the MRT route takes commuters to the spanking new Ayala Mall called TriNoma which houses a huge department store, grocery, several cinemas, a roof garden, and a host of retail stores and restaurants. With this retail foundation in place, it would not be far-fetched to surmise that its developers will soon be adding a residential component to complement the retail portion. Since space is of utmost importance, high-rise is seen to be the way to go.

Just across the development, the SM Group has already started with its ambitious expansion of its venerable SM City North EDSA complex. It has upgraded the look of the 28-year old mall and added several new exciting features. Along with the facelift comes a three-tower, 40-storey residential condominium called the Grass Residences that will eventually be linked to SM City North EDSA. The developers are hoping that this project will benefit from a planned expansion of the MRT, connecting its present depot in the North Triangle, with the LRT Station in Monumento, Kalookan.

Meanwhile, just a few blocks south of the area lies another cluster of condominium developments. The Quezon Avenue Station of the MRT has proven to a catalyst for the Eton Centris complex of businessman Lucio Tan. The Eton Centris will be a 10-hectare upscale township project with residential condominiums, office towers, hotel, and lifestyle and retail areas. On the other side of EDSA, the 38-storey GA Sky Suites is currently rising. It will be a residential tower with a unique, innovative design that's guaranteed to be one of Quezon City 's iconic structures once completed.

Just a few blocks from this site, very near the GMA-7 complex and the MRT East Avenue Station, will rise the 19-storey Victoria Station.

Farther afield, where the MRT Cubao Station and the LRT-2 Cubao Station meet lies the newly-redeveloped Araneta Center. A component of the grand vision of the developers is the Manhattan Garden City of the Megaworld Group. This residential development will be composed of 17 high-rise buildings connected to each other and the Araneta Center by a walkway. Its landscaped environs and pedestrian-friendly layout combined with easy access to the MRT and LRT-2 stations are expected to catapult this area to the forefront of the vibrant retail areas of the Metropolis.

In the Shaw Boulevard/Crossing area, developments like the SOHO Central, Cityland Tower and the St Francis Towers have made that area a high-rise patch.

In the Pioneer area, the 3-storey GA Twin Towers have been a success, thanks to the MRT Pioneer Station. Across EDSA, the Pioneer Woodlands will be rising just smack below the Station offering ease of mobility to its owners. For its part, the adjacent Robinsons Complex will be home to several high-rise residential condominium complexes like the Gateway Garden Ridge, One Gateway Place, Two Gateway Place, and Gateway Regency that will complement the Robinsons Pioneer Mall and the nearby Office and BPO towers.

In the Magallanes area of EDSA meanwhile, the San Lorenzo Place is rising very near the MRT Magallanes Station. Across it is the Alphaland Tower that is being completed by its new developers after several decades of being unfinished.

At the edge of EDSA is rising the SM Bay City and the Metropolitan Park complexes where scores of high-rise condominiums are either being drawn up, or are now under construction. It is expected that these huge developments will benefit from a proposed extension of the MRT.

It has been quite obvious that the phenomenon of mass rapid transit systems serving as catalyst to the development of residential and office developments has at last reached Philippine shores. And as the MRT and LRT systems are expanded in the near future, so to will the real estate developments that are expected to cater to the needs, requirements and preferences of their riders.

By: Edwin T. Bartolome
Philippine-Real-Estate.info
Copyright 2008