Vol. XXI, No. 194 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Monday, May 5, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
DAVAO CITY — Landco Pacific Corp. is investing about P600 million in a 33-hectare property in Samal City owned by the Floirendo family and will develop it into a high-end resort subdivision with a hotel component .
The company is seeking to develop the property in four years to make the hotel operational by 2012, as it tries to get a chunk of the booming property market.
Francis V. Ceballos, Landco executive vice-president, said the company would divide the property into 800 lots and set up a 200-room hotel that will be the anchor of its Plaza Azalea project.
But what could hinder the development of the project, which will begin as early as 2009, is the lack of infrastructure facilities in the island city, Mr. Ceballos said.
"Our main concern now is the lack of infrastructure. So we will have to coordinate with the utilities," he said, adding that if worse comes to worst, the company is ready to convert seawater into drinking water.
Don Antonio O. Floirendo, Sr., patriarch of the Floirendo family and founder of the Antonio O. Floirendo Corp., welcomed its joint venture with Landco.
Mr. Floirendo said he hopes the partnership would lead to more projects since the property arm of his company, Damosa Land Inc., is continuing its diversification.
Early last year, the Floirendo property company also signed a joint partnership agreement with Ayala Land, Inc. for the development of its 10-hectare property in downtown Davao City into a mall complex.
Under Landco’s Samal project, the property will be divided into the hillside cluster, where each unit is about 250 to 300 square meters, and the beachside cluster, where each unit will be more than 300 square meters. The cheapest unit will be sold for P1.2 million to P1.3 million.
The company is also setting up a convention hall that can accommodate a thousand people, the first on the island known for its beautiful beaches.
Mr. Ceballos said the company is partnering with the Floirendos after finding out that there are not so many facilities for tourists. The hotel will be packaged as a three-star establishment.
Mr. Ceballos said the project would focus on the locals, some of them Filipinos working abroad looking for comfortable homes. — CQF
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