Casino set to rise in Villar asset

By VG Cabuag @villygc

The group of tycoon Man- uel B. Villar Jr. is putting up his second casino operation in his Villar City, a 3,500-hectare development in the southern part of Metro Manila.

The project will be developed by Prime Asset Ventures Inc. (PAVI), the private investment company headed by Villar’s son Manuel Paolo, through whollyowned subsidiary Vertex e n tertainment and Resort Corp.

“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 but it would be a proud moment for all of us here now to say that we are the pioneers of Villar City,” Villar said.

Based on the masterplan, Villar City will have 15 satellite cities, seen to complement one another to provide residents, entrepreneurs and companies. These planned cities will include a modern central business district, a tech valley, a university town, and a premier lifestyle hub, among others, set amid verdant landscapes with some 1 million trees.

“These satellite cities will also be seamlessly connected via a thoughtfully planned road network that links to major thoroughfares such as Daang h a ri and MCX [Muntinlupa-Cavite e x pressway], among others,” Villar said.

Villar City spans 15 cities— Taguig, Las Piñas, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Bacoor, Dasmariñas, Imus, San Pedro, General Mariano Alvarez, Silang, General Trias, Tanza, Trece Martires, Carmona and Tagaytay.

Last year, Villar said his group is also putting up a casino complex in the 80-hectare Global South at the boundary of Parañaque and Las Piñas, in an area near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Villar said his group has partnered with Korean businessmen to run the casino business in Global South, due to start operation before the end of the year or the first quarter of next year.

Villar said last year that the development will feature hotels, condominiums, a mall, and a theme park, apart from the casino and will require investments of about $1 billion.

Last week, the Villar Group unveiled the 6.2-kilometer Villar Avenue in Villar City, which will serve as the main artery of the mixed-used development being developed by Villar’s Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. and PAVI.

Coupled with the group’s acquisition of the 4-kilometer MCX, Villar City is being positioned as the “new center of gravity” in southern Metro Manila.

“At 3,500 hectares, 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,” the group said.

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