Vista Land to build 8 churches nationwide

MANILA, Philippines - Property firm Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. and its corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm are putting up at least eight churches nationwide.

This forms part of Vista Land and Villar Foundation’s advocacy with churches and religious organizations, the real estate firm said in a statement.

“The churches we are building, such as the San Vicente Ferrer here in Cagayan de Oro, are among the CSR efforts of our companies,” said Villar Foundation chairman and Vista Land chairman emeritus Manuel B. Villar.

“We believe that building communities and providing a place of worship for people is the best start,” Villar said.

Vista Land recently inaugurated the San Vicente Ferrer Church at the heart of Gran Europa of Camella Communities in Cagayan de Oro City.

The 250-seat church, named after the patron saint of the province, stands on a 300-square meter and is the first built by the Vista Land and Villar Foundation outside of Metro Manila.

Gated residential project Gran Europa is the largest master-planned community in the whole of Mindanao. It has six enclaves sitting on almost 200 hectares of prime real estate in Uptown Cagayan de Oro.

Next in line is the Santuario de San Ezekiel Moreno in Pulanglupa, Las Piñas City. Vista Land broke ground for the 700-seat church in 2011.

The property firm is also completing the construction of the 1,000-seat Santuario Madonna del Divino Amore at Evia in Alabang and a Swiss-inspired church at Crosswinds in Tagaytay.

“There will also be churches in other parts of Luzon such as Camella Provence in Malolos, Bulacan; Maia Alta in Antipolo, Rizal; Camella Tierra Nevada in General Trias, Cavite; and PlantacionMeridienne in Lipa, Batangas,” Vista Land said.

For Visayas, there will be European architecture-inspired churches in Vista Land communities specifically at the Azienda in Cebu and at Savannah in Iloilo.

For 2013, Vista Land will launch P30 billion worth of projects offering 15,000 residential units, up from P25 billion and 12,000 units last year.

In the first quarter, profits of the country’s largest homebuilder jumped 29 percent to P1.34 billion while revenues climbed 21 percent to P4.86 billion in the first quarter.