History of Bel-Air — Barangay Bel-Air

Bel-Air Village

Bel-Air Village was the third subdivision Ayala developed. Work began in 1957 and the village was built in four phases. It covers 78.7 hectares, of which 64.7 hectares are divided into 950 residential lots. Buildings along Jupiter Street may rise to 12 metres; houses inside the village, to 9 metres.

The Bel-Air Village 1, 3 & 4 gate under an arch of colourful star lanterns — The village gate in the festive season

A village gate from above: a brick guard post, a boom barrier and cars on a leafy street — A village gate and its guard post

A man sweeps fallen leaves on a tree-lined village street, parked cars behind him — Keeping a village street clean

Community life

The Phase III park is where the community meets: Community Day, bingo socials, the Valentine's dance, the KST program, the Easter egg hunt and trick-or-treat. Masses are held at the covered court, including the Saturday anticipated Mass, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Makati City Hall often holds seminars in the conference pavilion.

The Barangay Bel-Air seal painted on the wooden floor of the covered court, crossed by a net and leaf shadows — The barangay seal on the covered court

Open spaces and parks

The village has two parks, one in Phase II and one in Phase III. The village association and the barangay offices are in the Phase III park.

An empty dental chair and lamp at the barangay dental clinic — The barangay dental clinic

Commercial streets

The main commercial streets are Jupiter Street, Makati Avenue, Nicanor Garcia Street and Estrella Street, with parts of Neptune (Buli), Orion and Polaris Streets. Most businesses along the edge of the village are restaurants.

Salcedo Village

Salcedo Village covers 45 hectares and is the largest of the four business-district areas inside the barangay. It was developed from 1975 and has 131 completed buildings with over 1.59 million square metres of floor space. The Makati Commercial Estate Association (MACEA) manages it. Jaime C. Velasquez Park is its green centre.

Two young women laugh on a lawn under large trees, white market tents behind them — A weekend afternoon under the trees

Children climb a yellow and green playground under trees, condominium buildings behind — Playground equipment for the children of the area

A woman and a toddler bend to look at a tortoise on a park lawn — On the park lawn

Steel silhouettes of a runner, a walker and a dog on a park fence, office buildings behind — Figures on a park fence

Population

Barangay Bel-Air has 36,007 residents (PSA, 2020 Census of Population and Housing).

Buildings

Salcedo Village and the avenues around it hold some of Makati's office towers, among them the 55-storey PBCom Building (232.56 metres).

Places of worship

International Baptist Church
The Jewish synagogue
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Asian Center for Christian Ministry

History of Bel-Air.