Ortigas Center CBD

Ortigas Center, situated within the joint boundaries of Pasig, Mandaluyong, and Quezon City, serves as a thriving central business district ( CBD) in Metro Manila, Philippines.

The district covers more than 100 hectares (250 acres). It is the second most important business district in the metro, following Makati CBD. The Ortigas Center Association, Inc., oversees it.

The area features numerous shopping malls, tall office and condominium buildings, lively nightlife bars, restaurants, and other commercial complexes.

The area also hosts the corporate headquarters of esteemed companies like San Miguel Corporation, Jollibee Foods Corporation, Viva Communications, Century Pacific Food, HSBC’s Philippine branch, Republic Biscuit Corporation (Rebisco), and Robinsons Galleria.

The district also houses the Philippine offices of prominent engineering firms like Parsons Brinckerhoff, Sinclair Knight Merz, and WSP Group.

Ortigas Center boasts Banco de Oro’s main office and SM Megamall, two prominent establishments located along EDSA. The area’s proximity to The Medical City, one of the nation’s three hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission on International Accreditation, adds to its appeal.

Ortigas Center, surrounded by Ortigas Avenue, EDSA, Meralco Avenue, and Shaw Boulevard, thrives as Metro Manila’s bustling hub.

In the beginning, Ortigas Center was part of the vast 4,033-hectare (9,970-acre) “Hacienda de Mandaloyon,” an estate owned by the Augustinian Order. On January 20, 1920, Dr. Frank W. Dudley and Don Francisco Ortigas acquired this property from the friars. Later, Phil C. Whitaker joined, and the company became known as Whitaker and Ortigas. In 1931, the company was officially incorporated as “Ortigas, Madrigal y cia., S. en C.,” a limited partnership by shares, with Francisco Ortigas, Vicente Madrigal, B.C.M. Johnston, Fulgencio Borromeo, Clyde A. Dewitt, and future President Manuel L. Quezon as partners.

Upon Ortigas & Company’s acquisition of the estate, it was mostly undeveloped. Under the leadership of Atty. Francisco Ortigas Jr., the president and chairman at the time, the management’s vision transformed the area into a thriving industrial, commercial, and residential urban complex.

Development in the district started to take shape in the 1960s with the construction of its first structures.