A large number of residential units are recently completed in North Bonifacio. Many people are starting to ask: “What is it like living in this new neighborhood?”
North Bonifacio refers to a district that is bounded to the north by Kalayaan Avenue, to the east by 11th Avenue, to the west by South Cembo of Makati, and to the south by 32nd Street.
The earliest completed residential building in that district are Avida Towers 9th Street (completed in 2016). Avida Cityflex was completed near the end of 2017.
Several residential buildings that appear to be near completion include Park West and Central Park West, and also One Uptown Residence and Uptown Ritz across Uptown Mall. Avida Towers at 34th Street are also not far from completion. For a more complete map of upcoming buildings in BGC, see this.
So what is it like living in North Bonifacio in 2018?
Photo above: intersection of 36th Street and 9th Avenue, with Central Park West condo tower in the back. Left of the photo is One Uptown Residence, while Uptown Ritz is on the right hand side.
Grocery shopping and convenience stores
It is quite easy to get your daily grocery in North Bonifacio. There is a S&R Shopping Club at the corner of 5th Avenue and 32nd Street and a supermarket at the upscale Uptown Mall at 9th Avenue corner 36th Street. There is also a convenience store at Avida Cityflex Towers. If you like to shop local, then North Bonifacio is also near a small wet market in Kalayaan Avenue, or a bigger wet market at Guadalupe.
Photo: Uptown Mall is a relatively new mall that has a large number of trendy restaurants and apparel brands, as well as a cineplex.
Retail shopping and dining
While retail shopping and dining facilities are concentrated in Uptown Mall, more dining options can be found in Crossroads at 32nd Street as well as hidden inside office buildings, such as Vask Tapas Room at Clipp Tower at 11th Avenue or Cafe Enya at Citi Plaza at 34th Street.
In the next few years, another retail hub is expected to be completed. The complex behind Grand Hyatt Manila was orginally called Veritown, and was to contain a shopping mall called The Big Apple. To see the development plan of Veritown, see our earlier article here. In a press report dated July 2017, it appears that the mall will be a joint venture between Federal Land, the developer of Veritown, and two Japanese firms. Completion date is targeted at 2025.
Transport
The only mass transit system available within North Bonifacio now is BGC Bus North Express route. If you need to commute outside BGC, North Bonifacio is more convenient than south Bonifacio, because there are many jeepney routes available at Kalayaan Avenue, which can bring you to either EDSA or C5.
If you drive, you will notice that traffic outside rush hours is light, but many streets are and will be used by passing through traffic, vehicles going between EDSA and C5.
8th Avenue outside Grand Hyatt will be used by even more traffic going to and from Pasig once the new bridge connecting Lawton Avenue and Santa Monica Street in Pasig is completed.
Photo above: Poolside at Grand Hyatt Manila hotel in North Bonifacio.
Neighborhood
in 2018, North Bonifacio seems to be about 30% developed, and a lot of buildings are still under construction. Some level of noise and dust may be experienced for residents, depending on the exact location of their building.
South of North Bonifacio is central BGC where Bonifacio High Street is located. On the east is an area dominated by high rise office buildings as well as educational institutions. This makes that part of the neighborhood very quiet at night.
While North Bonifacio is part of the modern and first world township of Bonifacio Global City, right next to it on the west side are barangays South Cembo and Pitogo, a neighborhood of low cost private housing. Some of the children from these barangays sometimes wander into BGC and ask passerbys for food. This can be a little bit unsettling for some people.
Are you a resident of North Bonifacio?
If you want to know what it is like to live in a particular condominium, you need to talk to someone who has lived or is living in a unit built by the same developer (who is likely to be the property manager of that same building as well). Shoot a question in the Real Estate section of www.TheFortCity.com, and see if any body would like to share their experience!
