ALI hiking rates on Seda, Lagen

MANILA, Philippines —  Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is poised to increase rates for some of its hospitality properties that are currently undergoing renovations.

ALI last year started undertaking a reinvention of its Seda Hotels and El Nido Resorts alongside the redevelopment of its major malls.

ALI head of leasing and hospitality Mariana Zobel de Ayala said the company currently has five products under renovation under its hospitality portfolio.

“So that’s Holiday Inn. We are also renovating Seda BGC, Seda Abreeza, Seda Centrio in Cagayan de Oro and all of those are ongoing and set to be completed by the third quarter,” Zobel said.

“We’re also moving along with the renovation of the Lagen Resort, which we closed last year. We brought in a globally renowned design firm, WATG. They are known for delivering some really unique resort properties around the world. And they really reimagined the potential of Lagen, giving it a real Filipino feel very specific to Palawan and all of the magic that Palawan brings,” she said.

According to Zobel, ALI is targeting a “quite significant rate increase” for Lagen.

“We’re confident that the product that we’re developing is going to justify that increase as well,” she said.

Lagen is one of the resorts offered by the El Nido brand in Palawan, which also include Miniloc, Pangalusian and Apulit.

For the Seda properties, meanwhile, Zobel said that the company is looking at a 10 to 15-percent increase in the average rental rates.

“We’re really excited by the new design. It still keeps the soul of what people love about Seda, but gives it a little bit of a refresh and something exciting for business travelers and also leisure travelers,” she said.

ALI has set aside P7 billion for the reinvention of Seda Hotels and El Nido Resorts over two to three years.

The company is targeting to double its room inventory across its hotels and resorts portfolio to 8,000 by 2028.

“We committed to the market that we were going to double our keys for the hospitality business. We see a lot of potential in both domestic tourism and also bringing in more regional tourists. And we have about 2,000 rooms in the pipeline already. And that’s between construction and under planning,” Zobel said.

As far as the P13-billion redevelopment of its flagship malls is concerned, Zobel said that most of the renovations are between 40 and 60 percent complete as of this month.

The redevelopment will see its four iconic malls – Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma and Ayala Center Cebu – reinvented to cater to the evolving consumer preference.

“The renovations are on track and it’s creating a lot of excitement in our tenants,” Zobel said.

“We’re also opening new malls. We are opening about 78,000 square meters of retail space. We also have, including the renovations, we have about 700,000 square meters of mall space that’s currently either under planning or construction. So we have a lot of conviction in the market. We have a lot of conviction in the Filipino consumer,” she said.

Zobel said that ALI’s optimism to expand its malls is driven by the growth it saw in foot traffic last year.