AT a time when industry players were shying away from risks, Rockwell Land Corp. was formed in 1995 and has since then become one of the premier real-estate development companies in the Philippines. The high-end mixed-use 15.5- hectare Rockwell Center in Makati City—as a major project—began construction in 1998. With bold ambition, the newest real-estate company simultaneously developed five high-rise luxury residential condominiums—a move unheard of in the 1990s.

The primary task was to transform the old Manila Electric Railroad and Light Co. (Meralco) thermal-plant property of the Lopez Group into a mixed living environment or commercial business district. The architectural firm Skidmore, Owings, Merril carried out the design under the direction of former design partner Larry Oltmanns.

In Photo: 8 Rockwell main drop-off and 8 Rockwell main lobby.

Its centerpiece, the Power Plant Mall, opened on December 26, 2000. The Rockwell Center includes office buildings, condominium towers, a law and business school and a shopping mall. For this Rockwell raised the bar for the whole industry—eventually becoming the benchmark for quality innovation that is as aesthetically beautiful as it is well-designed.

Today Rockwell is known to many as a “city within a city,” a well-planned development fulfilling the needs of a growing community of residents, tenants and professionals who put their confidence in the Rockwell brand.

Rockwell is home to the following establishments also serving as attractions in the area: the Power Plant Mall, which is a four-level shopping mall that houses stores for international and local specialty brands; Rustan’s supermarket; restaurants and cinemas; entertainment and dining venues that include Rockwell Tent, The Loft at Manansala, Rocky’s Bar and Café, Chef Jessie and Palm Grove, which are ideal events place for colorful bazaars, corporate events, family celebrations and extravagant fashion and design shows; residential buildings that include Joya Lofts and Towers, The West Block, The Manansala and Aruga; schools that include the Ateneo Professional Schools (including Ateneo Government, Law and Business School) and Colegio de Santa Rosa.