Normally when one thinks of Makati, the mental image would pertain to the Central Business District area which happens to be the most well-known part of Makati. But that does not say it is the only part of Makati that is fully developed in an urban sense. In recent years, other parts of Makati are undergoing their own urban transformations as development in the city is moving beyond the CBD area.
One such neighborhood is the Poblacion-Bel-Air area north of the CBD. While it was originally, and still is, for the most part, conceived and developed as a sort-of suburban residential community, over the years, significant developments have been sprouting around the area. One such part of this village barangay is the site of the former International School-Manila, now known as a residential-commercial complex being developed called Century City.
Being developed by property developer Century Properties, (hence the name of the area) Century City is currently being developed on the site of the former campus of the International School-Manila, which used to be located there from 1961 until 2002, which the developer acquired through auction.
The development involves a construction of 4 residential towers. Two of them are under construction as of this writing: the Milano Residences, which boasts to be the first luxury residence designed by Versace Home, and the most-buzzed about for being the first Trump-branded property in the Philippines, the Trump Tower Manila.
The other two have already been completed, both supertall structures themselves: the 250 meter-tall (making it the second tallest structure in the country now) Gramercy Residences and its somewhat shorter sibling, (6th tallest in the country at 220 meters) Knightsbridge Residences.
In addition, the complex will also have its own medical facility (still under construction at this time of writing) called the Centuria Medical Plaza, a media facility to be called the Forbes Media ‘Tower which is still in its planning stage, as well as a shopping mall (but of course) called the Century City Mall.
Truth be told, while Century City Mall calls itself “the mall of modern Makati,” it is actually no different from any other mall in the metropolis, without any unique feature that would make it stand out from the rest. Then again, the mall is not fully operational yet as I am writing this as there are still some parts that are being developed, as well as retail space that has not been opened to the public yet. So I suppose I will give it a pass for now.
It remains to be seen how Century City will turn out. so it’s still too early to say whether this development is indeed a “game-changer” or just overpriced hype. We’ll just have to wait and see how these developments will all turn out. Hopefully, Century City lives up to all the hype it is advertising itself to be.
You can check out Century City as mapped on the Database
for information about Century City and the developments in the area, visit the official website of Century City here
