Developer shelves retirement village project

CEBU, Philippines – EverJust Realty Development Corporation is putting on hold its planned retirement village the company is still looking for a possible foreign partner in the multi-billion-peso development.

Justin Uy, president of EverJust Realty Development Corporation said that pursuing a good, yet quite complicated project like an integrated retirement village, will need an outsider participation, especially that the market is solely concentrated from foreign countries.

Although, the property and the budget allocation of the project is already put in place, he said the company is now scouting for a good partner, probably from Japan, or other countries where there are good number of medical tourists.

The planned integrated Retirement Village shall be built in a 10-hectare idle lot in Consolacion northern part of Cebu, along with the establishment of a hospital—somewhere in Mandaue City.

According to Uy, this kind of project cannot be rushed, as it needs to be planned carefully, considering that the project is so far the first to be built here.

As soon as the company can find the right foreign partner, its latest venture on retirement village project construction will be started.

Uy reiterated the good pool of medical professionals in the country, and the over-supply of nurses should be maximized, thus helping the “brain-gain” bid of the Philippines.

On the other hand, although the multi-sectoral groups in Cebu have been trying to market the province as preferred “retirement hub” for international retirees, Cebu still has to build appropriate facilities in order to attract this potential dollar-earning market.

Department of Trade and Industry Cebu Provincial Office (DTI-CPO) director Nelia F. Navarro earlier said a good coordination between the government and private sectors in Cebu should be strengthen to maximize the Province’s attractiveness to retirees around the world.

Navarro said there are a lot of facilities that should be established first, such as integrated villages that provide facilities that will assist and offer services that are necessary for suitable retirement village.

“We do not have assisted living or a nursing home where retirees needing constant attention can live, or a group of private-retirement homes where active retirees can rent a room and share facilities such as laundry kitchen bathroom and common living areas with other residents,” said Navarro.

Earlier, the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) announced that the government will aggressively promote the country as a retirement destination for the world’s retirees.

PRA is now focusing on the country’s leading source countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan.