Posted on
April 28, 2013 09:09:29 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
SM LAND,
Inc., the property development and management unit of conglomerate SM
Investments Corp. (SMIC), is set to open next month its first leisure-oriented
development -- dubbed Sky Ranch -- in Tagaytay City.
A VIEW of
Taal volcano from the ridge along Aguinaldo Highway -- seen in this photo taken
on Nov. 21 last year — remains one of the country’s premier tourist
attractions. -- JLC
“Sky Ranch is targeted for opening by May
2013. It will be a leisure park that will offer the definitive Tagaytay
experience to both local and foreign tourists, as well as provide a relaxing
family retreat,” SM Land said in SMIC’s 2012 annual report released on Thursday
last week.
According to
SM Land, Sky Ranch sits on a five-hectare property beside Taal Vista Hotel --
operated by SM Land’s sister firm SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. -- along
Aguinaldo Highway and will feature horseback riding facilities, an amusement
park, gazebos, restaurants, and a 2,000-square-meter events tent.
The amusement
park, which will include a 63-meter high Ferris wheel, will be operated by
SM-controlled Family Entertainment Center, Inc., David L. Rafael, SM Land Commercial
Properties Group senior vice-president, said in an interview following an SMIC
briefing at SMX Convention Center, Pasay City last Thursday.
Upon
completion, Sky Ranch will join SMIC’s three other developments in Tagaytay
City: Wind Residences, a residential condominium under SM Development Corp.;
Tagaytay Highlands, an upscale mountainside residential resort by affiliate
Belle Corp.; and Taal Vista Hotel, formerly known as Taal Vista Lodge.
Tagaytay
City, a 6,500-hectare, second-class city in the province of Cavite, according
to its Web site, is known as the country’s so-called “Second Summer Capital”
and is currently a significant tourist hot spot.
“Tagaytay
City continues to be one of the major tourist destinations in the country.
Apart from the view of Taal Volcano, Tagaytay (City) boasts of various
attractions, such as historical landmarks, the Japanese Garden, the Tagaytay
Highlands, People’s Park in the Sky, Picnic Grove and Livelihood Complex, and
museums (Character Museum and Museo ng Tagaytay),” the city government said in
its City Development Strategies report on its Web site.
MORE ON THE
WAY
Mr. Rafael
said that a sequel development to Sky Ranch could be introduced later this
year.
“We are
cooking up something. Let’s just say we’re going to do certain formats that the
SM Group has not been known for -- small developments, around only one hectare
(each) -- but we can’t disclose yet. We could possibly launch one more this
year,” Mr. Rafael said, without elaborating.
SM Land,
known as Shoemart, Inc. until late 2008, is into property management and
construction, as well as commercial and office space leasing. It is the holding
company for non-mall, property-related subsidiaries and projects of the SM
Group.
SM Land is
currently building ThreeE-com Center, a premier office hub in the Mall of Asia
Complex in Pasay City, as well as SM Cyber West Avenue, an eight-storey
business process outsourcing center at the corner of EDSA and West Avenue in
Quezon City.
SMIC, SM
Land’s parent, is the listed holding company of the SM Group with interests in
shopping mall development, retail merchandising, financial services, real
estate development and tourism, as well as hotels and conventions.
SMIC has
allotted roughly P65 billion -- a record figure -- for capital spending this
year, up from P56.80 billion in 2012, mostly for mall development arm SM Prime
Holdings, Inc. and condominium developer SM Development Corp.
Shares of
SMIC gained P2.00 or 0.18% to P1,141.00 apiece on Friday last week from
P1,139.00 last Thursday. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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