YOU CAN BUILD IT. WILL THEY COME?

In 1968, the country’s top companies and schools came together to establish a world-class business school: Asian Institute of Management (AIM). Ayala donated the Makati land that became AIM’s campus, in what is now Legazpi Village.

Here’s a lesser-known part of the story.

In the early 2000s, AIM was offered an exchange: its Makati property for a much larger land in Laguna. Back then, the Laguna property was practically in the middle of nowhere. Today, we know it as Nuvali.

One major consideration against the move was surprisingly simple: few faculty members wanted to relocate or make the commute just to teach.

Two decades later, the idea resurfaced. In 2025, Ayala Land confirmed discussions to acquire AIM’s campus as the school considered relocating to a larger site. The negotiations eventually fell through.

Where am I going with this?

You can build a township. Convincing people, particularly skilled people, to move there is another matter entirely.

As Metro Manila deals with a property glut, developers are increasingly looking outside the traditional CBDs for growth. But the AIM story illustrates a problem they’ll have to solve:

How do you bring the talent with you?

I think this becomes particularly interesting if the Philippines seriously pursues an opportunity I believe we’re naturally suited for: retirement tourism.

Warm weather, English proficiency, hospitality, relatively affordable living, and a large pool of healthcare professionals. Meanwhile, aging populations abroad are facing increasingly expensive long-term care.

Imagine something like Balesin Island, but built around retirement instead of vacations: beautiful surroundings, restaurants, recreation and resort-level service, combined with clinics, rehabilitation facilities and the specialists retirees actually need.

Building it may be the easy part.

The harder part is convincing doctors, nurses, chefs and other skilled professionals to build their lives there too.

We’ve convinced foreign chefs to move here and open restaurants. Companies convince talent to relocate for work. Developers have created entire communities where previously there was very little.

So it’s certainly possible.