Ayala Land signs contract with UP to develop IT park

Ayala Land Inc., the nation's largest property developer, said Monday it had signed a 25-year lease contract with the University of the Philippines to develop 38 hectares of the state-owned learning institution's property into an industrial park. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Ayala Land said it will begin construction of the planned UP North Science and Technology Park in the first half of 2007. It said the property will be converted into a fully-integrated information technology and IT-enabled services community, with low-rise office buildings housing support components such as retail, residential and hotel developments. Ayala Land did not provide more details. Analysts were optimistic that the UP project will help Ayala Land address its weak spots, such as business process outsourcing (BPO) buildings and shopping malls. "This...is one of the few remaining properties of this size that remains undeveloped in Metro Manila. This about 10 km northeast of the Makati central business district and would serve as the main staging area for the company's BPO office developments," Macquarie Equities Research said. "The biggest advantage of the area compared to other more established BPO townships such as Eastwood City of Megaworld is that it is adjacent to several well-established schools in the Philippines that could feed the much needed manpower supply for BPO service providers." Macquarie has an "outperform" rating for Ayala Land and a target price of P15.75. - GMANews.TV