Philippines’ richest Manuel B. Villar Jr. announced plans to put up a satellite casino in his newly-launched Villar City in addition to the one he is developing in the 80-hectare Global South integrated resort project.
Being his legacy project, Villar is carefully designing Villar City to be Metro Manila’s “new center of gravity” to ensure that it will be as iconic as it is massive.
The planned 3,500-hectare Villar City spans 15 cities: Taguig, Las Pinas, Paranaque, Muntinlupa, Bacoor, Dasmarinas, Imus, San Pedro, General Mariano Alvarez, Silang, General Trias, Tanza, Trece Martires, Carmona, and Tagaytay.
Villar City will be about 10 times as big as Bonifacio Global City, indicating its sheer magnitude not only in terms of the number of homes, offices and complexes that will be built within this vast community, but also with respect to its potential contribution to job generation and economic development.
Among the highlights of the city’s development will be his second casino project which will be a satellite of the $1 billion integrated casino and resort complex in Global South that is being developed with a Korean partner.
He noted that they have finalized discussions for the partnership with the Korean firm for the Global South project and the cost may likely exceed $1 billion because the land alone is already worth that much.
The first casino will also have a hotel component while Villar said he is converting the upper two floors of the mall there in a casino for high-rollers and VIPs. At 80-hectares, it will be bigger than any of the casinos at the PAGCOR Entertainment City in Parañaque.
Meanwhile, Villar said the satellite casino in Villar City will be bigger but he is not yet sure if it will be developed with the same Korean firm noting that, “It will depend on how well our partnership (in Global South) progresses.”
Aside from the casino, another highlight of Villar City will be a theme park which Villar plans to integrate with the mall that will be built there.
He said they will develop their own concept for the theme park and will not be getting a license or franchise from a foreign theme park operator.
“Part of the them park will be inside the mall so that there will be plenty of things to do in case it rains or when it is too hot outside. So part of the theme park will be indoors and both the theme park and mall will complement each other,” Villar said.
Villar also said he plans to donate a piece of land in Villar City to the University of the Philippines, his alma mater, to build a college focused on technology noting that, located at the city’s entrance is La Salle Dasmariñas.
“Several of our companies will be developing Villar City and not just Vista Land. Vista Land will be just part of it. Most of it will be under PAVI (Prime Asset Ventures Inc.),” he added.
Villar pointed out that, “this is going to be a work of a lifetime—even beyond my lifetime—because of its sheer size. I won’t be able to see it through its full completion.”
Based on the masterplan, Villar City will have 15 satellite cities which are seen to complement one another to provide residents, entrepreneurs, and companies with a conducive environment, be it for growing careers, for raising families, or for expanding businesses.
These planned cities will include a modern CBD, a Tech Valley, a university town, and a premier lifestyle hub, among others, set amid verdant landscapes with some one million trees.