Posted on October 09, 2011 08:48:45 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
DEVELOPER V.V. Soliven Realty Corp. is looking to tie up with theme park operator Enchanted Kingdom, Inc. to build a residential resort in San Mateo, Rizal, company officials said late last week.
Construction for the 100-hectare Sol Haven de San Mateo in Rizal, which could include a theme park, will start late next year, Benjie R. Soliven, V.V. Soliven marketing director, said in a chance interview.
“We are hoping to partner with EK to put up Sol Haven, which will be a resort-like residential community in San Mateo,” Mr. Soliven said.
“But there are no formal talks yet with [Enchanted Kingdom]. We haven’t approached them yet, he clarified.
The planned partnership was confirmed by Mr. Soliven’s mother, Purita R. Soliven, V.V. Soliven chairman and chief executive officer.
Ms. Soliven said the development will boast of a five-hectare theme park as its unique selling proposition to beat back competition from other real estate rivals.
“The world is getting smaller, and competition is getting tighter too,” she said.
“We want to be more aggressive and creative in our projects,” Ms. Soliven said, adding the company is aiming to target retirees alongside families looking to build their first home.
Sol Haven, whose master plan is currently being drafted, will feature various residential developments surrounding a theme park facility, which will include stores and a mall.
The cheapest condominium unit will sell for P995,000 to P1.3 million, while the most expensive will cost around P3 million to P4 million, said Ms. Soliven.
V.V. Soliven is banking on the future completion of the Circumferential Road 6 near the Quezon City-San Mateo border in order to boost project sales since the planned major thoroughfare is expected to pass near Sol Haven, Ms. Soliven said.
Currently, V.V. Soliven has a land bank of at least 800 hectares, and is looking to establish similar tourism-related projects in Pagbilao, Quezon and Tagaytay City.
“We have lots of raw land,” Ms. Soliven said. “We’re aiming to expand and build more projects in the next few years,” she said.
Earlier this year, the San Juan city government had threatened to auction off the developer’s flagship commercial property, V.V. Soliven Shopping Complex along EDSA, due to allegedly unpaid property taxes worth P18 million.
“We have already reached a settlement, and we hope to complete payment in two to three years,” Ms. Soliven said.
V.V. Soliven, first established in 1965, is the real estate arm of the V.V. Soliven Group of Companies. It is the developer of the upscale Loyola Grand Villas and Capitol Park Homes subdivisions in Quezon City. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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