Posted on May
05, 2013 09:46:59 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
ALVEO LAND
Corp., Ayala Land, Inc.’s middle-income market arm, aims to sell within this
month half of units at the first tower of Solstice, Alveo Land’s first
condominium development at Circuit Makati.
Circuit Makati is Ayala Land’s latest
mixed-use hub in Makati City.
“We’re
expecting it (Solstice Tower One) to be 50% sold within the month, which is
around P2 billion in sales. The first building is around P4 billion in sales
value,” Robert S. Lao, Alveo Land president, told reporters on the sidelines of
Solstice Tower One’s sales launch at the Globe Circuit Event Grounds in Makati
City on Saturday last week.
“We had our
first selling before Holy Week, on March 21… since then, we’ve already had P1
billion sales,” Aris C. Gonzales, Alveo Land project development division
manager, told reporters separately.
In a
statement last Saturday, Alveo said Solstice Tower One, a 41-storey condominium
targeted for turnover in the third quarter of 2018, will offer 461 residential
units in studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom configurations, ranging from 32
to 132 square meters in size.
Amenities at
Solstice will include a function room, lap and lounge pools, juice bar, lounge
area, kids’ play area and pool, indoor and outdoor fitness gymnasiums,
landscaped pocket gardens, lawn areas, the statement noted.
ON TRACK
“The plan
will be around 16 buildings for Alveo. For the second tower, we’re looking at
the first quarter of next year,” Mr. Lao said when asked when Alveo Land
expects to launch the next Solstice tower.
“We’re on
track to launch one tower every year.”
Solstice will
be located at the center of Circuit Makati, a mixed-use development at the site
of the former Sta. Ana Race Track that was marked for Ayala Land’s P60- billion
redevelopment plan for Makati City.
That plan
entails development of six districts in the city for mixed residential,
commercial, and office use.
Alveo Land,
formerly known as Community Innovations, Inc., was registered with the
Securities and Exchange Commission in 1995, according to its Web site. It is in
charge of Ayala Land’s middle-income residential brand, Alveo.
Mr. Lao said
Alveo Land is poised to rack up higher reservation sales this year compared to
2012.
“It’s good.
It’s going to be better than last year, about 15% better in reservation sales,”
Mr. Lao said when asked about prospects this year, adding that the firm ended
2012 with around P25 billion in reservation sales.
“Right now,
we have a good pipeline -- one project per month, so around 12 projects this
year. Last year we only had around 10 projects.”
Ayala Land
was organized in 1988 when parent Ayala Corp. decided to spin off its real
estate division into an independent subsidiary to enhance management focus on
real estate.
Ayala Land
has earmarked P65.5 billion for capital expenditures this year -- P46 billion
for project completion and roughly P20 billion for land banking -- partly to
help bankroll about 69 property projects collectively worth some P129 billion.
Ayala Land
grew its net income by 27.69% to a record P10.33 billion last year from P8.09
billion in 2011, driven by strong sales. Revenues -- consisting of real estate
sales, interest and investment income, equity in net earnings of associates,
and other income -- rose 23.32% to P54.52 billion from P44.21 billion, while
costs and expenses increased by 23.28% to P41.30 billion from P33.50 billion.
Ayala Land
shares gained 75 centavos or 2.36% to close at P32.55 apiece on Friday last
week. -- F. J. G. de la Fuente
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