Rockwell adjusts property projects to ‘new normal’

MANILA, Philippines — Rockwell Land Corp., the Lopez-owned property developer, is adjusting its property developments to adapt to the new normal brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic.

During the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday, officials shared changes in their plans brought about by new requirements of the market as a result of the pandemic.

Changes include offering more horizontal developments, putting in place more sophisticated filters in the airconditioning units of its projects and adding more open spaces in its communities.

Seeing an increase in demand for horizontal living spaces with wide open areas, the company is transitioning developments in Bacolod to offer more lots.

“We will continue to build beyond ordinary communities. The shift in market behavior because of the crisis has led to make changes in our plans to deliver more exciting developments. This includes a new 30-hectare self-contained inner city mixed-used development in Bacolod set to launch in 2021,” said Valerie Soliven, chief revenue officer of Rockwell Land.

Rockwell will also have more developments in Cebu and Iloilo, plus a possible joint venture expansion project in Pampanga.

`”For now, as we stay true to our vision of providing beyond ordinary communities, the rest of our efforts will focus on the project completion of Proscenium, Vantage, Edades Suites and 32 Sanson’s Solihiya Tower,” said Rockwell Land president Nestor Padilla.

Operations of Rockwell’s residential buildings remained 24/7 amidst quarantine limitations.

“Despite the inevitable business impact, we immediately had to adapt to evolving protocols. As we learned more about the virus, we also kept improving our safety measures and policies to keep our residential communities protected,” Padilla said.

During the stockholders meeting, Rockwell Land announced a net income of P3 billion in 2019, an increase of  17 percent from the previous year.

Reservation sales rose 12 percent to a record P16.7 billion, mainly due to the launch of new pioneering developments namely Rockwell South at Carmelray in Laguna, Nara Residences in Bacolod, and Terreno South Phase 2 in Batangas.