Posted on June 11, 2012 11:42:50 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
THE PROPERTY arm of DMCI Holdings,
Inc., plans to take advantage of the growing business district in Mandaluyong
City and build a resort-themed condominium there, an official said late last
week.
“We will be building a resort-inspired
condominium on the Sheridan lots,” Cherrie Lyn V. Cruz, DMCI Project
Developers, Inc. (DMCI Homes) marketing manager, told BusinessWorld in a
telephone interview last Friday, referring to three properties along Sheridan
Street in Mandaluyong City, which the firm acquired from Swift Foods, Inc. for
P500.22 million in March.
“It will be similar to our other
developments like Tivoli Garden Residences and Flair Towers. However, we’re
still in the pre-development planning stage, and there is no construction
movement yet as we’re still doing feasibility studies,” Ms. Cruz said.
The three lots are currently occupied
by the old warehouse facilities of Swift Foods and will eventually be
demolished to make way for the planned condominium, she added.
DMCI Homes said the Mandaluyong City
was chosen because of plans to develop the industrial district into a future
business center.
“The area will be part of the future
Mandaluyong CBD (central business district). There is a local government plan
where the Ortigas CBD will be extended, spilling over to the Sheridan-Reliance
[streets],” Ms. Cruz said.
The project is expected to be unveiled
by the fourth quarter, but with no definite month yet in mind, Ms. Cruz added.
Earlier, the company said it expects
to spend roughly P8 billion this year to grow its portfolio of residential
projects, which could soon include the controversial Torre de Manila
condominium in Ermita, Manila.
Cultural activists have protested that
the proposed 41-storey development, which will rise on Taft Avenue, would
obstruct the view of the nearby Rizal monument when viewed from Roxas
Boulevard, as depicted in artistic renderings on the project’s Web site.
“If [DMCI Homes builds] that 41-storey
building, it’s going to be the first thing you will see before you see the
Rizal Monument. It will impede the sanctity of the landscape,” artist Carlos
Celdran, who spearheaded an online petition protesting the building’s design,
told BusinessWorld in a telephone interview yesterday
“Imagine if future generations will
take a picture of the Rizal Monument and the first thing that they will see
behind it is Torre de Manila,” Mr. Celdran added.
The property firm declined to comment
yesterday as it was still drafting a statement on the matter, according to a
text message sent by Januel O. Venturanza, DMCI Homes marketing manager.
DMCI Homes saw its first-quarter net
income surge by 81% to P405 million from P224 million last year, brought about
by a 51% uptick in housing sales to P1.7 billion from P1.1 billion last year
due to the completion of earlier-sold units in Metro Manila.
Shares of DMCI Holdings fell by 0.18%
to P55.90 at the end of trading yesterday from P56.00 at its previous close. --
Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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