SM Development Corp allots P2 billion for affordable housing project

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential builder of the SM Group, has earmarked P2 billion for the construction of its pilot project under its affordable housing brand, My Place.

The maiden project, My Place South Triangle, will consist of four condominium towers that will make available a total of 3,000 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units initially priced at P1 million. Unit sizes range from 20 square meters (sqm) to 40 sqm.

Bounded by Panay Avenue and Mother Ignacia Street in Quezon City and only a few steps away from the ABS-CBN compound, My Place South Triangle will start construction in the fourth quarter with the first phase expected to be completed in the first half of 2013.

Roger R. Cabunag, president of SMDC, said My Place South Triangle is aimed at tapping a younger market. “Today’s upwardly mobile young adults who are at the early stages of a successful career and who would want a place to call their own, either for themselves alone or for their start-up families, are a perfect fit for My Place homes. Together with our SM Residences brand, this new and exciting business model will further strengthen SMDC’s product offerings,” he said.

My Place South Triangle will house a swimming pool, garden lounge, jogging path, and a children’s playground. Commercial and retail areas will be located at the ground floor of the towers.

To tap a much wider clientele base, SMDC is planning to acquire properties in Bonifacio Global City as it moves to penetrate the high-end segment of the market. Funding will come from the recently concluded P10-billion corporate notes issue, which was more than three times oversubscribed.

SMDC has 12 ongoing residential projects, of which 11 are in key areas within Metro Manila, and onother in the mountain resort city of Tagaytay.

For this year, SMDC is launching four new projects with an estimated capital requirement of P4 billion to P8 billion. These new projects are located in Taft, Manila; Ortigas in Pasig City, and Quezon City.

The other ongoing projects of SMDC are Chateau Elysee, a mid-rise condominium project in Parañaque City, which has completed five of its six clusters; Berkeley Residences in Katipunan Road, Quezon City, which is 63 percent complete; Grass Residences beside SM City North EDSA, which is 58 percent complete with its Tower 1; Sea Residences near the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, which is 38 percent complete with Phase 1; and Field Residences in Sucat, Parañaque, which is 95 percent complete with its Tower 1.

Both Mezza Residences, which is just across SM City Sta. Mesa, and Lindenwood Residences, a residential subdivision in Muntinlupa City, are 100 percent complete.