we plan for and execute what we put our
hands to. It’s being a steward of excellence.
That’s something that has always been a part
of my professional pedigree, and it’s very
much translated into what we’ve done
here and what we’re actually seeing in terms
of success.”
To be the best, Michael knows, means
working with the country’s best. So he went
about finding the best architects, consultants,
contractors and subcontractors, or “those
who have been building up the Philippines
in terms of design and construction”.
GGDC brought in Jojo Tolentino,
President of Aidea Philippines, one of the
country’s leading architects and one of
Building Design’s World Architecture Top
- It also approached six of the country’s
top 10 construction firms – EEI, DMCI,
DDT Construct, Hilmarc, Datem and
Monolith – before finally deciding to bring
EEI on board. It then brought in consultants
including Meinhardt, SY2 and Barone
International and Inspira. On top of that,
GGDC hired Chairman and CEO of Santos
Knight Frank (formerly CBRE Philippines)
Rick Santos for consultancy on the design.
“It has more than 1,000 employees, and some
of the best buildings in the CBD surrounding
Metro Manila,” says Michael.
Together, they would begin the vertical
phase of a project master planned for
5.8 million square metres and ultimately
build Global Gateway Clark, a development
spanning 177 hectares in the fast-growing
Clark Freeport Zone. “We want to be able
to make sure we can showcase household
names in terms of our consultants, and our
contractors and subcontractors in terms of
who’s actually been participating in these
projects,” Michael says. “We need to find
those who are best in class, best in their
respective fields, niches or areas of expertise,
and make sure we bring them in.”
Michael’s focus on excellence also
stretches to the tenants GGDC wants to
bring to its stable. It has been focused mainly
on multinational and Tier 1 domestic firms,Half page advert
AIDEA