SM Group to create real estate company for MRT-7 project

By MARICEL E. ESTAVILLO, BusinessWorld Reporter The SM Group of mall magnate Henry Sy will form a new real estate company to develop the 194-hectare commercial and residential project in Bulacan, located at the tail end of the planned Metro Rail Transit-7 (MRT-7). Proposed by Universal LRT Corp., the MRT-7 railway will run from EDSA North Avenue in Quezon City to San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan. This will include a 22-km road access component passing through the North Luzon Expressway Bocaue Exit. "SM will have the majority in the yet-to-be-formed real estate company with other still-to-be-identified companies," a highly placed SM source told BusinessWorld on Wednesday. The SM Group, through SM Investments Corp., Banco de Oro Universal Bank, and PentaCapital Management Corp., has a 20% stake in Universal LRT Corp. "MRT-7 goes from SM North EDSA to San Jose, Bulacan through Fairview. At the end of the line, SM will be involved in developing roughly 194 hectares into commercial and residential area and the retail aspect of the line," the SM source added. In its proposal to the government, Universal LRT said the mixed-use project will include the development of 7,300 residential units, 900 offices and a 90,000-square meter mall. Once developed, the Bulacan mixed-use property will be more than three times bigger than the 60-hectare SM Central Business Park in Pasay City which hosts the 380,000-square meter SM Mall of Asia. Eli Levin, Universal LRT managing director, said in a separate interview that once completed, the project will become the country’s first intermodal transport facility that will be directly connected to a rail station and a commercial and residential center. "The train comes underground into the last terminal. Above it, the intermodal can park up to 60 buses simultaneously. And from here, the buses will have a six-lane express connecting to the North Luzon Expressway," Mr. Levin said. This, he said will help decongest Metro Manila.