By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated June 9, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Cebu-based
affiliate of property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is spending around P7 billion
for two new mixed-use projects that will ride on the economic growth of the
Queen City of the South.
ALI-branded residential projects,
business process outsourcing (BPO) office buildings and retail space will rise
in Mactan and Mandaue in partnership with the Aboitiz and Gaisano groups, a
company executive said late last week.
“We have very exciting projects to
fund. It’s a business district in Mandaue and a mixed-use development in
Mactan,” said Cebu Holdings director Emilio J. Tumbocon following the company’s
listing of P5 billion bonds in the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp.
(PDEx).
The two projects, to be launched this
year, will require around P6 billion to P7 billion in the next two years,
Tumbocon said.
Cebu Holdings is the company behind
Cebu Business Park, the largest operating integrated, masterplanned, mixed-use
information technology (IT) Park in the country. Its subsidiary Cebu Property
Ventures and Development Corp. is the owner and developer of Cebu IT Park,
which is home to over 70 percent of Cebu’s IT-BPO companies.
“The one in Mandaue will be similar to
our development in Cebu Business Park...We will be putting up retail, BPO and
residential [components],” he said.
Last year, ALI and AboitizLand Inc.
forged a 50-50 joint venture deal to develop a 15-hectare property in
Subangdaku in Mandaue City into a mixed-used city center.
For the Mactan project, Cebu Holdings
will put up a mixed-use leisure community banking on the tourism sector.
Cebu Holdings owns 55 percent of Taft
Punta Engaño Property Inc. (TEPEPI) that was created to develop a 12-hectare
property in Mactan, Cebu. TPEPI is the joint venture company of ALI and Taft
Property Venture Development Corp., which is owned by the Gasiano family’s
Vicsal Group of Companies.
Tumbocon said Cebu Holdings is more
bullish on Cebu especially with major infrastructure projects underway like the
Mactan-Cebu International Airport and the planned bus transit system.
“The opportunities in Cebu will
improve further,” he said.
Located about 570 meters south of
Manila, Cebu is considered to be the second most important city in the
Philippines next to Manila. Cebu is one of the fastest expanding economies in
southern Philippines with a gross regional domestic product growth of 7.3
percent last year, driven by the BPO sector.
While landbank from the two projects
is good for 10 to 12 years of development, Cebu Holdings has the option to
further expand the property in the coming years through land acquisition or
joint ventures, Tumbocon said.
Cebu Holdings was created in 1988 to
transform the urban landscape of Cebu and help realize its economic potential.
Last week, it listed P5 billion worth of bonds in PDEx, completing its debut in
the debt capital market.
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