Development : Triangle Park - The New Quezon City Central Business District

Quezon City Central Business District

Triangle Park : Quezon City's Central Busines District

The commercial and business district(CBD) of a city showcases its progress and development. It represents a city in a micro level. It won't be presumptuous to conclude that most cities with bustling and progressive CBD are the most dynamic and progressive ones. The biggest and the best commercial and business centers in Metro Manila are classic examples : Ayala Commercial and Business District in Makati,  Ortigas Commercial and Business Center in Pasig and Mandaluyong, Alabang CBD in Muntinlupa and Global City in Taguig. The cities where they are located are Metro Manila's most progressive.

In some cases, other progressive cities have multiple and scattered CBDs, like Manila. Manila has CBDs in Binondo/Divisoria/Sta Cruz and Port Area/Intramuros/Malate districts. Manila being geographically bisected by the Pasig River would naturally have CBDs on both sides of the Pasig River.

Metro Manila's biggest city : Quezon is another case. Quezon City also has multiple pocket CBDs, e.g. Araneta Center in Cubao, Eastwood City in Libis. But these pocket CBDs are small and are not comprehensive. They have limited locators and lack some infrastructures. Araneta Center is still basically a residential enclave centered on a private commercial development. In fact, an ongoing re-development of the Araneta Center is promoting itself as a residential and entertainment center more than a comprehensive CBD.

Quezon City was originally planned as a residential, educational and government institutions' district. Among the cities in Metro Manila, it has the best urban and residential zoning plan. It also has ample real estate for future developments. A few years back, the city's local government has decided to utilize these available real properties in the city to build its very own  comprehensive commercial and business district that is comparable, if not better than the best CBD's in Metro Manila. The Quezon City local government together with the National Housing Authority, which owns most of these real properties for development, have planned the establishment of Quezon City's Central Business District called the Triangle Park.

This new commercial and business district will have a  :  bigger real estate map,  better and strategic location, bigger EDSA frontage, more major roads access, more mass transit stations access, greener  and bigger parks, and more diverse locators, including government offices and institutions. The Triangle Park basically consists of the North Triangle, East Triangle and the Veterans Memorial Center/ Veterans Golf Club. These are real estate properties owned by the National Housing Authority and the government.  An estimated 260.6 hectares will be allotted for development and redevelopment for this new CBD. Bounded by five major roads : EDSA, East Avenue, North Avenue, Elliptical Road and bisected at the center of the triangle by Quezon Avenue. These parcels of real estates were originally meant to be the center for national  government offices and institutions, in fact, many government head offices and institutions are already located here : Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Ombudsman, The Land Registration Authority, BIR, National Power Corporation, Lung Center, Kidney Center, Children's Medical Center, QC Central Post Office, Occupational Safety Center, Veterans Medical and Memorial Center and Philippine Science H.S.

The Triangle Park is also fringed by other government institutions along its East Avenue border : The Quezon City Hall, SSS , LTO, The Heart Center and East Avenue Medical Center. The inclusion of government offices and institutions makes this new CBD a comprehensive business district. These institutional locators give it an edge over other CBD's where government offices and institutions seldom exist and are mostly  comprised of private locators. 

The Triangle Park development comprises of five major districts : Triangle Exchange, Emporium, Downtown Hub, Commons, and Residence Districts. Each of this districts will have it own type of development, usage and locators. These five major districts will also have its own sub-districts.

"The Triangle Park's five major districts are mixed use, anchored on major uses – mixed use with retail on ground floor, transit oriented mixed use, mixed-use commercial, mixed-use residential, mixed use institutional and commercial. Mixed uses with ground floor retail will be located along the main Park Lane roads that loop around Triangle Park. Comprising the largest portion (20%) of total built space, these can be commercial/office/residential/institutional maximizing ground floor retail. This is followed by Mixed-use Commercial with 19% which is hinged upon office uses. Mixed-use Institutional sprawling over 13% of the area, is essentially institutional or related to the administration of government, the Triangle Park area being originally envisioned to be the National Government Center.

Mixed-use Transit Development will cover 3% of the area. These are compact developments built around the GMA-Kamuning and Quezon Avenue MRT Stations. They have higher densities, walkable scale, and a mix of uses including residential, retail, office, institutional and commercial. Mixed Use Residential (2%) will have predominantly residential land use, with commercial amenities to serve its residents."
Source : http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&id=561:the-quezon-city-central-business-district

Developments in the Triangle Park have already begun in some sections. Among its first locator and partner-developer is Ayala Land.  Ayala Land  and  NHA, which owns the lands on the northern tip of the triangle has a joint venture for the Vertis North project, a mixed-use development of about 29.1 hectares. An earlier development is the already existing Trinoma  Mall. (Triangle North of Manila Mall).

Another locator and developer is Eton Properties which is  currently developing  Eton Centris, another  mixed-use development in the middle part of the triangle at the corner of EDSA and Quezon Avenue. 

Trinoma Mall

Eton Centris

A distinguishing feature of Triangle Park development is its building density and height guidelines: 

"The building density feature is deliberate. Higher densities along EDSA will in effect establish a scheme of physically enclosing Triangle Park and optimizing the experience of entering and exiting thus, enhancing the Triangle Park's sense of place. On the other hand, the intended tapering of densities as the development approaches the Quezon City Memorial Circle area will respect and enhance the historical and cultural character of the area rather than erode it. This design scheme will effectively create a skyline that defers to the symbolic meaning of the Quezon Memorial and to create a distinct yet smooth experiential and perceptual transition from modernity to heritage and history."

Click map to enlarge

"The following are the threshold guidelines for building heights in identified districts in Triangle Park:
35-45 Storeys – Icon Towers located at the Triangle Exchange/Emporium Districts. These will be the tallest buildings on site and together with Quezon Memorial on the opposite side of the area will be signature icons of Quezon City.
15-25 Storeys – The rest of the Triangle Exchange and the Emporium Districts will have buildings having 15-25 storeys; less intense than the Icon Towers but more intense than the Residential and Downtown Hub districts.
6-20 Storeys – The buildings in the Downtown Hub and Residences will be 6-20 storeys in height to establish an undulating pattern to the skyline profile, from the taller icon towers dipping down but ascending again around the District Green of the Downtown Hub
4-8 Storeys – Buildings towards North Avenue, Elliptical Road and East Avenue to allow views of the Ninoy Aquino Parks & Wildlife and the Quezon Memorial Circle."

This unique feature of building density and height in this new CBD will be complementing its surrounding area making it blend with the existing peripheral developments.

"The new and improved road network will highlight and expand access points to the Triangle Park, as well as open up inner parcels, integrating them with the rest of the CBD. Park Lane is the main entrance to Triangle Park. It traverses the five districts of the CBD and will be lined with trees, particularly along Triangle Exchange, Emporium, Downtown Hub, and Commons District. The parkway is envisioned to complement the active storefronts of the buildings that line it."
Source : http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&id=561:the-quezon-city-central-business-district

A CBD with big parks and plenty of gardens :

The Triangle park will be a very green and eco-friendly CBD. The North and East Triangles already have existing big parks and forested areas with mature hardwood trees which will be incorporated the Triangle Park development. This would make Triangle Park  the greenest  CBD in Metro Manila. Other parts of the CBD's landscape would be enhanced with greenery with the addition of pocket parks interspersed among its road network and waterways.

From the given information and project details above, the Triangle Park will indeed be the CBD to watch for.


Comment :
I wish the Triangle Park would also become a showcase of modern Filipino architecture, iconic building designs and monuments, similar to what is being done in Dubai and Singapore, where grand iconic buildings, monuments and landmarks are incorporated in their development.

Source :
http://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/

Picture Source :
http://www.ayalamalls.com.ph/malls/info/6/
http://www.eton.com.ph/images/projects/centrisstation/sitedevelopmentplan.jpg