‘Yorme’ secures Recto property expanding UdM capacity
MAYOR Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso leads the ceremonial signing of the Contract to Sell at Bulwagang Katipunan in Manila City Hall on Thursday as the local government purchased the property from the Land Bank of the Philippines for P975 million to officially acquire a prime property along C.M. Recto Avenue which will serve as the new permanent campus of the Universidad de Manila.
Photograph courtesy of Manila Public Information Office
The local government of Manila has acquired eight adjoining properties along C.M. Recto Avenue from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) for P975 million, securing a permanent home for the Universidad de Manila (UdM) in the heart of the University Belt.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso announced the acquisition during a ceremonial contract signing at Bulwagang Katipunan in Manila City Hall on Thursday.
Domagoso cited that the property was originally valued at P2.3 billion before the city successfully negotiated the price downward through fiscal restructuring.
“This property was worth a staggering P2.3 billion. The reason I asked you to applaud them is because we managed to get it for just P975 million,” Domagoso said.
The transaction has been structured as an installment agreement, with the down payment paid in tranches — terms the mayor attributed to LandBank’s confidence in the city’s improving fiscal discipline.
Spanning 7,000 square meters with frontages along Recto Avenue and Bilibid Viejo, the new campus will expand UdM’s facilities from 48 to 84 classrooms and introduce eight new laboratories, allowing student capacity to scale from 9,000 to 20,000.
Domagoso pointed out that the acquisition resolves long-standing operational challenges for the university, which previously operated across scattered, decentralized sites.
“We were looking for a location to put an end to this and give UdM its own property. Because UdM has been scattered — disintegrated,” he said.