Developer infuses fresh P3B for Cebu projects

CEBU, Philippines - Local real estate developer Cebu Landmasters Inc., (CLM) is expanding its capital expenditure in the next two years to accommodate the strong movement of the real estate market in Cebu.

In an interview with CLM president Jose Soberano III, he said that another P3 billion will be added to the company's capex to create more projects in Cebu.

This additional P3 billion will fund four new projects on top of the 18 projects that are in the company's project portfolio right now.

Three of these new projects that are in the pipeline will be located in Cebu, and one in Cagayan de Oro.

Soberano said they will be developing an office building within Cebu Business Park beside Pag-Ibig Office.  It will be an 18-story building built in a 3,000 square meters lot that will cater to corporate or BPO offices.

Another project is a one hectare mix-use development beside the Baseline property which Soberano said is in collaboration with the Cañizares family.

The third project in Cebu will be in A.S. Fortuna Street in Mandaue City which will also be developed into a mix-use property. It is a one hectare property near our Midori project.

Early next year, he said the company will start off its first out of town development in Cagayan de Oro, by building three mid-rise condominium buildings at Cagayan's commercial district.

Soberano said all these four projects will be launched next year while they are also actively looking for more opportunities both in Cebu and outside of Cebu.

The company is also looking at introducing more projects in Mactan. Consolacion, and Liloan. Aside Cagayan de Oro, Soberano said CLM is also looking at entering Davao, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Iloilo.

Earlier, Soberano announced to pour in P5 billion capex in the next few years.

In the house and lot segment, Soberano said that the company's thrust is to cater to more socialized and economic housing where much of the demand is not being addressed by most developers.

Citing industry records, Soberano said that the country has about 3.5-million in housing backlog, and most of these are potential buyers in the low to mid-income market segment.

A per unit price of a socialized housing starts at P400,000 while low to mid-income houses are between P800,000 to P1.5-million per unit.

Cebu Landmasters, which has been around the local industry since 2004, has 18 existing real estate projects in Cebu including house and lot, condominiums and office spaces.

In the next two years, the company will turn-over a total of 1,600 residential house and lot units for various developments including San Jose Maria Villages in Balamban, Minglanilla, Toledo, and Talisay in Cebu. "Of the 1,600 units, 500 are socialized housing while the rest are economic and low to mid-end projects," Soberano added.

In the condominium and office segment, Cebu Landmasters is set to deliver 120,000 square meters of floor area in the next three years, including 2,500 condominium units.

Existing projects include Park Central, which is targeted for completion in 2015; Baseline Residences, also due for turn-over; Asia Premier at the Cebu IT Park, with 88 condominium units which was recently turned over; Midori Residences set for completion on the third quarter of the year; and Mivesa with 1,500 units.  (FREEMAN)