Published on 23 May 2013 [ manilatimes.net
]
Written by MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR
The
real-estate arm of the Aboitiz Group is eyeing expansion outside Cebu, where it
established its presence for the past 20 years.
The Aboitiz
Land Inc. chief executive officer, Andoni Aboitiz, said in a media briefing before
the group’s annual stockholders meeting that the company considers expanding
outside Cebu, as it targets to be a major profit contributor in the Aboitiz
Group.
“We are
looking at expanding outside Cebu,” the company official said.
He said,
however, that the company doesn’t have a specific way forward yet.
“To become a
major contributor to the group, we still have a long way to go,” Aboitiz
further said.
Aboitiz Land
is also set to seal an agreement with Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) next month for a
mixed-use project in Cebu City.
“The
partnership with Ayala Land is specifically project-based. Before we signed
agreement with them, we had pre-identified some properties that we wanted to
look at, conduct due diligence, then decide which ones we should do first,”
Aboitiz explained.
“We are in
the closing stages of making a decision on which project,” he added.
The property
company currently has 2,000 units in its portfolio, with the average amount of
building 500 units per year.
Aboitiz further
mentioned that as of now, they intend to work on one project this year with
ALI, but if the joint venture deal with the company goes well, then it may do
more projects.
In the
group’s annual report, the company specified that it plans to roll out more
offerings, including the second phase inventory for both Priveya Hills and
Pristina North Residences. The launch of a mid-income residential project is
also being planned. All the projects are in Cebu City.
The company
is also pursuing its plan to acquire a new industrial zone in Cebu City.
In an earlier
report, Aboitiz Land said that it has earmarked P1 billion over the year for
the construction of various projects.
Of the P1
billion, P55.4 million has been spent as of the first quarter of 2013.
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