Thursday, September 24, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
NEWLY FORMED Pallas Homes, Inc. plans to become one of the country’s major property developers in the future but, for now, will stick to its niche market of selling ready-to-occupy homes to jumpstart its business.
"The plan eventually is to go into full-time developments. In this country, housing is [seen by most] as a long-time [investment]," Pallas Homes Chief Executive Officer Manuel J. Colayco, Jr. said.
Mr. Colayco, one of the shareholders of the two-year-old property company, served as president of Ayala-led affordable housing subsidiary Laguna Properties Housing, Inc. (now Avida Land Corp.) for 14 years until his retirement three years ago.
He is also involved in the property firm Geo Estate Development Corp. which was put up by former boss and retired Ayala Land, Inc. President Francisco H. Licuanan III.
But unlike most real estate firms that buy land to develop, Mr. Colayco explained that Pallas Homes’ strategy is to buy old houses and lots from their original owners, tear them down, and then "modernize" them before selling to the public at "affordable" prices.
The company is redeveloping 80 units in Laguna, alongside Ayala’s Laguna Technopark. The 80 houses and lots, dubbed as the Albright Line, formed part of the 7,000-unit San Jose Village III which is an Ayala Land project.
"Selling brand new homes in an old developed place is the niche market that we are currently in. It made sense to develop the properties now that the place is alive. We thought it is a right location because of its proximity to the schools and other establishments," Mr. Colayco said.
The place is close to schools like De LaSalle University Canlubang, Don Bosco, and St. Scholastica, as well as a branch of the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. and upscale retailer Rustan’s.
Albright Line offers three model house-and-lot units — Appleby, Dellvue, and Mactavish — all of which are two-storey houses with a parking slot.
The smallest unit is the two-bedroom Dellvue which covers only a floor area of 66 square meters (sq.m.). Appleby is a three-bedroom 75-sq. m. unit. Prices for both units range from P2.4 million to P2.9 million, executives said.
Meanwhile, Mactavish is Pallas Homes’ "high-end" unit. The 100-sq. m. unit sells for P3.5 million.
Mr. Colayco said the company plans to target middle managers and those who live within Makati, Sta. Rosa and areas surrounding Laguna and Cavite, as well as overseas Filipinos living in Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.
But locals will continue to be the focus since the firm’s inventory is not that big, he said.
With this strategy, Mr. Colayco said the company would likely be able to buy bigger lots that are already developed.
"Our buyers can also move in fast the moment they pay the 20% downpayment. They can have the house immediately within two months. On top of it, they can live in an ’on-going’ community," Mr. Colayco said.
Mr. Colayco said he hopes Albright Line would be the new property firm’s take-off point before it ventures outside Laguna, adding that there is a market for this approach to selling houses.
"We plan to stay in this market or even go lower and offer houses priced at P1 million and P2 million since this is where the bulk of the market is," he said. — Kristine Jane R. Liu
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