Hongkong Land, Gaisanos launch Cebu township project

CEBU, Philippines – London-listed property group Hongkong Land Holdings Ltd. is embarking on its largest investment in the Philippines to date through a township joint venture with the real estate arm of the Gaisano family.

Hongkong Land and the Gaisano-owned Taft Properties are partnering to develop a 20-hectare property in Mandaue City which company officials said would require billions of dollars of investments to complete.

To be known as Mandani Bay, the premium mixed-used project will be developed in eight phases over the next 10 years, project director Gilbert Ang said.

He said the project’s initial phase would start next year and be completed over a three-year period, requiring an investment of P4.5 billion.

Phase 1 will feature two residential towers with a total 1,200 units within a 1.1-hectare area in the property, he said.

Ang said Mandani Bay would incorporate retail and office components but bulk of the 20-hectare site would be for residential towers.

“The key attractions of this  master-planned project are its unique features, the site’s strategic location and its extensive water frontage. The project will also be built around several distinctive characteristics aimed at creating an attractive community in line with international standards,” Taft Properties chairman Jack Gaisano said.

The area where Mandani Bay will soon rise occupies a waterfront site with a prominent location between Mactan Island and Cebu Business Park.

Christopher Narciso, president and COO of Taft Properties, said the property was acquired from Cebu International Container Terminal Inc. in 2013.

“It is a premium site which we will turn into a lifestyle destination here in Cebu,” he said.

Narciso said the Mandani Bay project is Hongkong Land’s largest investment in the Philippines to date.

HT Land, the joint venture vehicle of Hongkong Land and Taft Properties, is 60 percent owned by the latter and 40 percent by the former.

Hongkong Land owns and manages prime office and luxury retail property in key Asian cities, primarily in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The company has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and has secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore.

In the Philippines, Hongkong Land has an existing partnership with local property giant Ayala Land Inc. called Roxas Land Corp. which is behind the Roxas Triangle Towers in Makati.

“Hongkong Land is very much involved in our operations, unlike other foreign groups here which just infuse capital. That’s why we partnered with them,  to tap their expertise on building on reclaimed land,” Ang said.