Posted on
November 26, 2012 10:49:05 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
By Franz J.
G. de la Fuente, Reporter
TAGAYTAY CITY -- Sy-led SM Investments
Corp. aims to further grow its property footprint in Tagaytay City with a new
“entertainment center,” a senior official of the company said over the weekend.
“Adjacent to this land, you can see some development. It is a
six-hectare development attached to this lot, to be called Tagaytay Sky Ranch,”
Jose T. Sio, SM Investments executive vice-president and chief finance officer,
said in an interview on the sidelines of the Media Nation 9 conference at Taal
Vista Hotel, Tagaytay City last Saturday, when asked about the company’s plans
in the area.
“It will be composed of horse-riding
[facilities] and other components like a gazebo, gardens, a Ferris wheel, a few
commercial spaces and restaurants. It will be an entertainment center, almost a
city by itself.
We’re going to have a soft opening by
December,” Mr. Sio said.
Tagaytay City, a 6,500-hectare,
second-class city in the province of Cavite, has long been positioned as “one
of the major tourist destinations in the country,” according to its official
Web site. Tourist attractions include historical landmarks, the Japanese
Garden, Tagaytay Highlands, People’s Park in the Sky, as well as Picnic Grove
and Livelihood Complex.
SM Investments currently has three
developments in Tagaytay City:
Wind Residences, a residential
condominium under SM Development Corp.; Tagaytay Highlands, an upscale
mountainside residential resort under Highlands Prime, Inc.; and Taal Vista
Hotel, formerly known as Taal Vista Lodge, under SM Hotels and Conventions Corp.
Mr. Sio described the planned Tagaytay
Sky Ranch, which will be managed by SM Hotels and Convention upon its
completion, as a potential tourism attraction.
“We will be complementing Tagaytay
Picnic Grove… This is a place that you simply cannot replace as it is
overlooking Taal Volcano,” Mr. Sio said.
At the same time, Mr. Sio said that
there was still room for expansion at Taal Vista Hotel, whose last renovation
in 2008 saw rooms double to 261 from 128, and the addition of a 1,000-seater
ballroom.
“We still have space for development
here,” Mr. Sio said without elaborating.
SM Investments remains bullish in its
outlook for the next three years due to a growing economy.
“It’s ‘all go’ for next three years.
It’s all growth -- it will be all positive for the malls, retail, banking, the
property and hotel [units].
Everything will be a go, and I think
this is what we also feel about the Philippine economy,” Mr. Sio said.
SM Investments, which plans a record
P65-billion capital expenditure next year, grew its net income by 14% to P16.1
billion as of September from the P14.2 billion earned in the same nine months
last year.
Shares of SM Investments rose by P1.50
or 0.18% to P837.50 apiece yesterday from P836.00 on Friday last week.
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