San Miguel Properties Inc. has forged an agreement with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to jointly build a P1.7-billion high-end serviced apartment type-hotel in Makati by the likes of the four Seasons Luxury Hotel in Hong Kong.

The project, a 50-50 joint venture between the two parties, will rise on GSIS’s 1,766 square meter lot adjacent to Greenbelt 1 in Legazpi Village, Makati City.

A press statement issued by the GSIS said San Miguel Properties will provide the initial funding for the construction of the 500-room hotel. The rooms will have an average size of 50 square meters per room.

The project, which will offer world-class facilities, is slated to be operational by January 2011 and is targeting businessmen and high-end tourists.

GSIS and San Miguel Properties will equally share the earnings to be generated by the hotel.

“We expect the dividend payments from this hotel to further bolster our actuarial life,�? said GSIS president and general manager Winston F. Garcia.

In its website, San Miguel Properties said it is “moving towards establishing itself as a market leader in the property sector through mixed-use developments with middle-income housing as its main thrust, property leasing, strategic real estate ventures and corporate real estate services.�?

Its projects include middle-income subdivisions, The Legacy in Parañaque City, Primavera Hills in Cebu City, and Maravilla in General Trias, Cavite.

San Miguel Properties, together with A. Soriano Corp., Kuok Philippine Properties and Rodamco Philippines B.V., built The Enterprise Center, which is located  at the corner of Ayala Ave. and Paseo De Roxas. The project was undertaken through a joint venture company called KSA Realty.

Earlier, the GSIS entered into a lease agreement with mall developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. involving a three-hectare property along Elliptical Road in Quezon City. The lease agreement is up to 25 years and renewable upon mutual consent by both parties.

The GSIS stands to earn around P1.3 billion from the said lease agreement.

SM Prime will develop the property, where the GSIS Quezon City Satellite Office is currently located, into a commercial complex.