Discover An Exclusive Urban Sanctuary By The River

Press Release:

The Marikina River poses a potential to be included in the list of famous rivers where a cosmopolitan vibrant community thrives along the river’s precious banks.

Circulo Verde, a 15-billion peso residential development located alongside the Marikina River featuring recreational parks, jog paths, shops, and restaurants, is set to become a prime riverside residential hub with facilities similar to popular riverside communities such as those found in River Thames in London, Clarke Quay in Singapore, and Hudson River in New York.

Ortigas & Co., the company which built Greenhills, Green Meadows, and Ortigas Center, has set its eyes on the riverside property in Bagumbayan, Quezon City to offer a world-class community that not only provides an upscale riverside living, but also a prime location and key innovations.

“Circulo Verde is a 10-hectare development sitting right smack in the middle of Metro Manila, that provides residents with a feeling of living in the suburbs. It is halfway between Quezon City and Makati, halfway between Manila and the eastern cities like Cainta; it is also a few minutes away from key schools in Katipunan and Quezon City and the Ortigas financial district,” said Joey Santos, SVP and GM of OCLP Holdings, Inc. Real Estate Division. OCLP Holdings is the parent company of Ortigas & Co.

The big property used to be a plant for mixed concrete, formerly owned by its subsidiary Concrete Aggregates Corp. Its vastness, the views of the Sierra Madre mountains and Ortigas sky line that it offers, and its proximity to C5 highway have made it a perfect spot to establish a residential community.

According to Santos, the opening up of the C5 Road has greatly spurred development in the otherwise industrial zone, transforming it into prime area for residential and mixed-use development. Circulo Verde has contributed into transforming the area into one of the most coveted residential address.

Size does matter in a development as it can contain large open spaces under the sun. For Circulo Verde, it means more open spaces for people to engage in physical activities. In fact, Circulo Verde allots 70 percent of the property to open spaces alone. There’s a 1.5-kilometer perimeter road that envelops the gated property where residents can stroll, walk, or jog in addition to a 1.4 hectare park located at the center of the community.

The residential buildings vary in height, which ranges from 12 stories to 40 stories to take advantage of the views within and outside the community.  The buildings are low density too, to allow its residents privacy and exclusivity. The property where Circulo Verde is located is moreover definitely flood-free, assures Santos.

The area is already elevated by 8 meters from the level of the river. To further protect the development from a probable  rise of the river water, a river wall  is being constructed along the riverbanks not only to prevent the rising water from entering the property but to also increase the width of the river from an average of 46.3 meters to 66.3 meters. The river wall will be piled deep into the property to also prevent soil erosion.

Part of the flood protection plan is the dredging of the river. Santos said the company intends to dredge 25,000 cubic meters of silt from the river at the bend near Manggahan Floodway, which is equivalent to 1,500 dump trucks.

“Not only will the river get wider, it will also get deeper. The flow of the river is faster. When the flow of the river is fast, it prevents siltation; it prevents collection of garbage. One cause of overflowing is because the river has become shallow.”

In addition, part of the development is the construction of a two-way 137 meter bridge that will extend from within the company’s Circulo Verde project in Bagumbayan Quezon City to Amang Rodriguez Avenue in Pasig City.

The bridge, which is passable to private vehicles, aims to mitigate the traffic in the area and nearby barangays. It will likewise benefit residents of Circulo Verde, particularly those working in Pasig City and adjacent cities and townships, according to Santos. The new bridge will be an addition to the Manalo Bridge that already connects the two cities.

As to environment-friendly features, Circulo Verde will be putting in place a waste treatment facility, which will allow waste water coming from the buildings to be re-cycled as gray water for use for the upkeep of the gardens and parks. There will also be the presence of rainwater catch basin, which will collect rainwater.

Circulo Verde is a five phase development. Phase 1 is already in full-swing development with the first two towers Majorca and Ibiza set for turnover this 2012.

Circulo Verde’s  master plan also includes the establishment of standalone retail center that will contain a supermarket, shops, and restaurants.

“In keeping up with our tradition of delivering highly coveted residential developments, Ortigas has master planned Circulo Verde, making the one-of-a-kind community even better while maintaining the promise of delivering an exclusive urban sanctuary,” said Santos.