DoubleDragon-SM joint venture to operate 25 CityMalls by 2016

Posted on August 30, 2015 09:58:00 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]

 

THE joint venture between DoubleDragon Properties Corp. and SM Group plans to have 25 operating CityMalls by next year -- accounting for a quarter of its targeted 100 branches over by 2020.

CityMall Commercial Centers, Inc. -- 66% owned by DoubleDragon and 34% by SM Investments Corp. -- already secured 32 sites for its community malls that will be spread across the country.

“Right now, we’re constructing 21 across the Philippines simultaneously, so we’re on-track. We still have five years to build,” Edgar “Injap” J. Sia, DoubleDragon chairman and chief executive officer, said on the sidelines of the company’s stockholders’ meeting in Makati City last week.

“We are looking at 25 operating CityMalls by next year. We intend to complete around 20 this year but it takes time to turnover to the tenants,” Mr. Sia added.

He explained that once opened, only 70% of the mall are usually occupied. It takes about two to four months to get it fully operational.

The first CityMall opened in Roxas City in Capiz last March. This was followed by another CityMall in Imus, Cavite -- the first in Luzon -- which opened earlier this month.

Two more malls are scheduled to be opened in the next two months, said Mr. Sia.

“We’re opening our first in Mindanao on Sept. 30,” the official said, noting that the mall will be located in Tetuan, Zamboanga City.

He added another mall will open on Oct. 10 in Iloilo and will be part of the five malls expected to be ready by the end of this year.

“We’ll know which ones will be able to catch up and be part of the 25 CityMalls that will be operational next year,” said Mr. Sia.

To build its 100-branch CityMall portfolio, the two companies earmarked P24 billion to accumulate 700,000 square meters of leasable space.

DoubleDragon is on course to reaching its P1-billion net income target by 2016 and P4.8-billion profit goal by 2020.

The company is a joint venture between Injap Investments, Inc. of Mr. Sia -- founder of Mang Inasal -- and Honeystars Holdings Corp. of Tony Tan Caktiong, chairman and founder of Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC).

Last week, the company signed an agreement with JFC for a new commercial and office tower within Ortigas Business District that will be called “Jollibee Tower.”

The building will rise on a 3,002 sq.m. prime property at the corner of F. Ortigas, Jr. Road (formerly Emerald Ave.) and Garnet Road.

Construction for the new tower starts in the fourth quarter of this year, while the company set 2018 as the target year for the project’s completion.

There are two other buildings within the Ortigas business district whose names sound alike: Jollibee Plaza also along F. Ortigas, Jr. and Jollibee Center along San Miguel Ave. -- Claire-Ann Marie C. Feliciano

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Subic Freeport attracts $20-M leisure project

Subic Freeport attracts $20-M leisure project

By Ric Sapnu (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 30, 2015 - 12:00am

SUBIC BAY Freeport , Philippines – A new leisure project, estimated to cost about $20 million, will soon rise in this Freeport.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and administrator Roberto Garcia said Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu visited last week the site of the proposed project which would include the redevelopment of the Triboa Clubhouse and the construction and management of condominium buildings and luxury villas in the Triboa Area.

“This project strongly underscores the positive business climate in the Freeport as well as the fast-growing tourism industry here and in the rest of the country,” Garcia said.

Once completed, the project will feature three 10-story buildings, consisting of a 40-room hotel, a 20-unit VIP condominium with a car elevator and a regular condominium with 90 units.

The project also includes the construction and development of five luxury seaside villas with a marina facility.

Garcia said the redevelopment of the Triboa Clubhouse, the site of the 1996 APEC summit, is expected to be completed within the year while the rest of the facilities would take two to three years to be fully developed.

“Aside from enhancing the tourism value of Subic, it will also generate an additional employment of 800 for our local communities,” Garcia said.

He said the project, which was approved by the SBMA board in November last year, would be undertaken by the MSK Group through affiliate companies Xantheng (Subic) International Corp., Weihsin Subic Bay Corp., and Zangyueh Development Corp.

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GSIS selling 4 big properties

By Gabrielle H. Binaday | Aug. 23, 2015 at 11:05pm [ manilastandardtoday.com]

State pension fund Government Service Insurance System is set to auction three or four real estate properties, a top official said.

GSIS president and general manager Robert Vergara told reporters the agency expects to prepare the three or four real estate properties for bidding “hopefully” by the last quarter.

“Once we are able to determine the updated valuations for some of these properties, we’re hoping that we will be able to schedule one bidding or auction for our properties in the fourth quarter of the year,” said Vergara.

Vergara did not identify the four real estate assets, but among the GSIS properties up for sale is the 18,500-square-meter lot being used by Metro Manila Development Authority in Barangay Ugong, Pasig City.

Another big property is the 2,429-square-meter GSIS building in Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Vergara earlier said the agency expected to raise P32 billion from the privatization of its real estate assets, representing about 6 percent of the pension fund’s investment portfolio.

Vergara said the fund would hang on to its 8,000-square-meter Bonifacio Global City property in Taguig.

GSIS has not sold any sale real estate since the start of the year, after raising about P900 million from property sale in 2014.

“We had not had a real estate sale yet this year.  I think, we’re still trying to conduct an appraisal of all our properties. I just told our property group that there’s a lot of land in the provinces. Let’s see if there are any properties there that we might consider selling,” he said.

Vergara said GSIS planned to hike its exposure to the stock market this year, despite the current market volatilities.

He said the plan is to raise the cap on equity investments to 30 percent of its total investible fund from the current l20 percent.

GSIS saw net income plunge 69 percent in the first half to P29.6 billion from P94 billion a year ago, following the reclassification of its assets.

“It’s about P64-billion drop, and that.. drop is not really a  year-on-year drop because last year we reclassified all our healthy maturity portfolio at market value so we no longer have investments,” he said.

Vergara said revenue in the first half also fell to P70 billion from P135 billion a year earlier.

“We’re sort of struggling in 2015 both with equity market having hit a high in April and ...because our drawdown from peak in April,” he said.

The agency’s claims and benefits and other expenses stood at P41.4 billion, almost the same with last year’s 41.3 billion.

As of end-June, the pension fund investible income stood at P874 billion.  Some P217 billion were allocated for loans, P409 billion for fixed income, P158 billion for equity, P31 billion for real estate and P57 billion cash.

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Nuvali emerging as regional growth center in Calabarzon

By Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 20, 2015 - 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines - Nuvali, Ayala Land Inc.’s bustling eco-city in Calamba, Laguna, is seeking to become Calabarzon’s regional growth center as it lays out further expansion in the next five years.

Accounting for 20 percent of ALI’s revenues since 2009 and 15 percent of the parent firm’s net asset value, Nuvali is building up its leasing assets, focusing primarily on office spaces worth P12.5 billion, doubling its size from 31,000 square meters (sqm) to 60,000 sqm as part of its five-year plan.

“One of the company’s major targets for the coming years is to build or locate offices in its mixed-use green urban district. With this, the eco-city is providing potential business locators two types of office formats,” Nuvali general manager John Estacio said.

Nuvali is also upbeat on the opening of the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (Calax), a public-private partnership program of the government, to further boost investments and markets from Metro Manila, Cavite and nearby provinces.

Calax, which will begin construction in the next two years, will directly link Nuvali and South Luzon Expressway and cut travel time by less than an hour from Makati.

“This Calax will be a big boost to us and we think that this will lead us to the right path towards becoming a regional center,” ALI’s Strategic Landbank Management Group head Meann Dy said.

Furthermore, the 40,000-sqm regional mall Solenad 3 is set to be the start of Nuvali’s major push towards being the region’s business and commercial center.

The P2-billion expansion of commercial shopping complex Solenad 1 and 2 that will house local and international brands is seen to provide additional 2,500 jobs from the existing 4,000 jobs.

“Solenad will be a catalyst and a milestone project that will contribute to the speedy overall growth of Nuvali,” Estacio said.

Seven interconnected building under Solenad 3 will house 400 retail shops and restaurants, four cinemas, activity center and fiesta market. The first and second phases of the project were opened last May and August, respectively, the third phase will open by November and the last phase is set in April next year.

Before 2015 ends, Nuvali will intensify its expansion plans by opening several new projects including membership shopping center S&R, which will be launched in the fourth quarter of the year.

The 100-bed general hospital QualiMed, on the other hand, is also set to open in the second quarter of 2016 while outdoor recreational activities site Camp N and international Catholic school Everest Academy are also in the works.

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UP building global campus in Clark

By Othel V. Campos | Aug. 18, 2015 at 11:40pm [ manilastandardtoday.com ]

The University of the Philippines has signed a deal with state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority to build a global campus in Clark Green City in Central Luzon.

UP president Alfredo Pascual and BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Casanova signed a memorandum of agreement at UP Diliman in Quezon City for the development of a 70-hectare lot in the proposed Clark Green City into an educational hub.

“The UP global campus in Clark Green City will play a pivotal role in jump starting the Innovative and Academic District in Clark Green City,” Casanova said.

Clark Green City, covering 9,450 hectares in Pampanga and Tarlac, is envisioned to be the first smart, disaster-resilient and green city in the Philippines.

BCDA said the Innovative and Academic District in Clark Green City was envisioned to be the brain capital of the Philippines, a melting pot of new technologies, innovation and creative industries.

“For every poor Filipino who needs to be educated, there must be place that UP could provide for them. For every creative and innovative mind that our country could produce, UP must be able to provide the opportunity for them. The UP Clark Green City will make this happen,” Casanova said.

Pascual said UP was ready to present the conceptual plan of the UP Campus in Clark Green City to the BCDA.  He said the state-owned university had the initial funds to implement the project, which was scheduled to break ground by the first quarter of 2016.

Under the agreement, BCDA will turn over some 70 hectares through a deed of conveyance to the premier state university, subject to a final ground survey that will be jointly conducted by both parties.

UP will develop the property into an academic and research campus of the UP System and operate and manage the said property. UP will develop the property at its own expense in accordance with the parameters, land use plan and other guidelines provided in the Clark Green City master development plan.

The agreement has a term of 50 years, which is renewable for another 50 years.

UP building global campus in Clark

By Othel V. Campos | Aug. 18, 2015 at 11:40pm [ manilastandardtoday.com ]

The University of the Philippines has signed a deal with state-run Bases Conversion and Development Authority to build a global campus in Clark Green City in Central Luzon.

UP president Alfredo Pascual and BCDA president and chief executive Arnel Casanova signed a memorandum of agreement at UP Diliman in Quezon City for the development of a 70-hectare lot in the proposed Clark Green City into an educational hub.

“The UP global campus in Clark Green City will play a pivotal role in jump starting the Innovative and Academic District in Clark Green City,” Casanova said.

Clark Green City, covering 9,450 hectares in Pampanga and Tarlac, is envisioned to be the first smart, disaster-resilient and green city in the Philippines.

BCDA said the Innovative and Academic District in Clark Green City was envisioned to be the brain capital of the Philippines, a melting pot of new technologies, innovation and creative industries.

“For every poor Filipino who needs to be educated, there must be place that UP could provide for them. For every creative and innovative mind that our country could produce, UP must be able to provide the opportunity for them. The UP Clark Green City will make this happen,” Casanova said.

Pascual said UP was ready to present the conceptual plan of the UP Campus in Clark Green City to the BCDA.  He said the state-owned university had the initial funds to implement the project, which was scheduled to break ground by the first quarter of 2016.

Under the agreement, BCDA will turn over some 70 hectares through a deed of conveyance to the premier state university, subject to a final ground survey that will be jointly conducted by both parties.

UP will develop the property into an academic and research campus of the UP System and operate and manage the said property. UP will develop the property at its own expense in accordance with the parameters, land use plan and other guidelines provided in the Clark Green City master development plan.

The agreement has a term of 50 years, which is renewable for another 50 years.

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