State-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has extended P840-million financing for the construction of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) headquarters in Pasay City.
PEZA Director General Charito B. Plaza said the start of the construction followed the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the project in agency's 5,000-square meter prime property along Almeda, Roxas Boulevard corner San Luis Street, Pasay City.
As one of the major projects of the agency under the Transformation Roadmap (TRM), the new PEZA building is being funded by the LBP Leasing and Finance Corporation (LLFC) via a lease-to-own agreement. PEZA expects to gain ownership of the building 15 years after.
Plaza said that Rhodium 688 Builders, Inc., which won the competitive bidding for the project, will construct the proposed steel-based 13-story PEZA headquarters, which she said will represent PEZA’s continuous pursuit to improve its global competitiveness and support its plans and programs for the next years in accordance with its vision and mandate.
“Our new PEZA headquarters will serve as an ecozone model to the world as we continue to aggressively address our services to be closer to the people, enhancing the ease of doing business, and addressing efficiency factors to lower the cost of doing business in the country,” Plaza said.
LLFC Officer-in-Charge and Executive Vice President Edward Reyes who virtually graced the ceremony commended the director general for her initiatives in the long-awaited initial step towards the creation of the new PEZA headquarters.
Reyes said that while the pandemic caused a slight delay, “PEZA is ready to set sail to new frontiers with the joint efforts of LLFC, the assistance of Santos Knight Frank Management, and the Rhodium 688 Builders.”
“Together, we will be building an iconic and environment-friendly structure. It is a structure befitting PEZA’s mandates which brings investors to our country, generate employment, and create more opportunities for millions of our fellowmen,” Reyes added.
Aside from the PEZA building, Plaza said they are also looking for a developer to build another building within the Pasay lot. The plan is to construct a 33-storey commercial building to be situated at the back of the headquarters.
Aside from the establishment of the new building, PEZA is also gearing to implement the automation of payments, new Compensation and Position Classification System, transformation of public zones together with the new PEZA building to become models of township, green, healthy and smart ecozones.
Plaza is also pushing for the creation of different types of ecozones nationwide to attract various industries through utilizing millions of hectares of idle lands.