Invest-build-own at Sta Rosa business park

Is there a business venture today that is uncomplicated, risk-free, secured and high yielding?

Luis C. Monserrat, chairman and chief executive officer of Property Partnerships, Inc. (PPI), will prove everyone wrong with a novelty product that negates the notion above. "With a modest 14- percent return on investment annually, it is an innovation of a residence hotel business under a concept called ‘Communidades’ – Invest-Build-Own (IBO)," he disclosed.

But before going into the details, Monserrat explained the location as a vital component for success. He chose as site the Sta. Rosa Business Park in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, the country’s new growth center about 40 kilometers south of Metro Manila via the South Luzon Expressway.

Sta. Rosa Business Park

Owned, developed and managed by Greenfield Development Corp., Sta. Rosa Business Park (SRBP), is a 300-hectare fully integrated, masterplanned urban community comprising a light to medium industrial zone, residential, commercial and recreational areas.

The Greenfield Automotive Park, a Philippine Export Zone Authority-approved special economic zone, is part of the SRBP and home to Ford Motors Phils. The town of Sta. Rosa, dubbed by then Laguna Governor and now Interior Secretary Joey D. Lina as "The Little Detroit outside the United States", hosts the plants of the world’s top car manufacturers like FordToyota, Nissan, Isuzu and Honda.

The Paseo de Sta. Rosa (PDSR), SRBP’s town center, is expanding following Greenfield’s initial success in providing a mall service to the growing population in the contiguous area living in several upper to middle level subdivisions developed by Ayala Properties, Inc., Crown Asia, Megaworld, Empire East and other big names in property development. Slated to commence next month, PDSR’s extension has Jollibee as its earliest locator.

Adjacent to the mall, Greenfield also launched last year the Sta. Rosa Country Market, a world-class wet and dry market as rated by visitors from Metro Manila, particularly Manila Mayor Lito Atienza during a recent visit. The market is currently serving the needs of the residents and the more than 60,000 workers employed by multinational companies like National Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi, Coca Cola and other industries located in nearby industrial parks.

"The Sta. Rosa Business Park will become the next ‘Alabang.’ Aside from being strategically located within nearby industrial zones in Cavite and Batangas, the area [SRBP] is surrounded by nearly a dozen golf courses frequented by officials of locator companies," claimed Monserrat.

But despite the inevitable conversion of SRBP into a major business hub that serves as a gateway to the Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon (CALABARZON) industrial growth corridor, he noted that efforts must be made to serve the growing but under-served need of corporate locator market for a world-class residence hotel in Sta. Rosa.

‘Communidades’

Popularized in Spain, Communidades refers to the collective effort of individuals to invest, build and operate enterprises. At SRBP, a residence hotel will be built under the Spanish concept.

The Pravia Residence Hotel, a world-class nine-story edifice comprised of 105 apartment units equipped with top-rate amenities, will rise at SRBP to serve a neglected market in CALABARZON, Monserrat stated, explaining the venture will open an opportunity to select investors to own units at cost, i.e., without the standard profit of a developer, and rent them out at prevailing rates.

He assured a trustee bank (Union Bank) will administer all monies deposited in trust accounts under individual investors. When pre-agreed conditions are met, the bank will only disburse funds to project contractors and supplies. And if the project is aborted because the required number of investors is not fulfilled, the bank will return all funds to investors with interest, he added.

Monserrat said the average acquisition cost of a residential unit is P39,000 per square meter, comparatively cheaper than its equivalent structure in Alabang or Makati, which is pegged between P65,000 and P85,000 per square meter.

Modest rental rates are projected at P539 per square meter a month generating an income for a unit from a low of P19,695 to a high of P50,962 monthly, more than enough to cover a 10-year loan amortization from P15,596 to P40,355 or a 15-year ranging from P13,603 to P35,198 a month.

"Individuals risking some of their savings on the very volatile stock market and commodities or speculating on currencies will find our venture very feasible and secured. They will not only earn their money’s worth and own a property but also help propel the economy by creating jobs and opportunities in the countryside," he stressed, adding that after PPI’s receng signing with Greenfield more than 30 percent of Pravia have been reserved to date.

Monserrat’s Hospitality International, Inc., a firm that has been arranging quality alternatives for conventional hotels and resorts in the country, will provide management services to SRBP’s Pravia. He set up PPI in close collaboration with the Cuervo family, a well experienced and known entity in the real estate industry.