Realty tycoon Jeffrey Campos is bullish on the economy

Buy land, they’re not making it anymore. —Mark Twain

Can the Philippine economy sustain long-term growth amid the world’s uncertainties, from the euro debt crises to the USA’s economic decline?

A visionary realty tycoon is confident about the positive growth prospects of the Philippines. In fact, he is now developing what observers foresee to be a “greener” and more pedestrian-friendly version of either Ortigas Center or Ayala Center in the heart of Metro Manila’s centrally located Mandaluyong City.

5 new greenfield projects in 18 months

Jeffrey Y.D. Campos of Greenfield Development Corp. is a low-key but successful businessman who recently agreed to give The Philippine STAR an interview in order to introduce the Philippines’ first-ever fiber optics-to-homes connected condominium project called Twin Oaks Place.

In the dinner interview, Campos expressed confidence in the future of the Philippine economy and bright prospects under the reformist leadership of President Noynoy C. Aquino, only expressing concern about the latter’s support for the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill since Campos is a devout Roman Catholic.  

Campos bared that Greenfield plans five new projects in the next 18 months and is bullish about the economic future “because the Philippines is in dynamic Asia.” Among the various projects of the company will be the Greenfield City Sta. Rosa, Greenfield Regional Center in Calamba, Greenfield Campus Communities in Biñan and Greenfield Hillsborough in Alabang.

The Campos family has had joint-venture realty projects with various developers in the past like the Zobel-Ayala clan of Ayala Group and Ambassador Joey Antonio of Century Properties, but Greenfield will now focus on developing their own projects.

When asked about the possibility of a future public listing or IPO for the asset-rich Greenfield, Campos didn’t totally dismiss the idea but said that it’s not in their immediate plans. He humbly said that their firm is not yet a very big player in property development, but they are growing steadily with continuous expansion and new projects.

First fiber optic-to-homes condo

What better expression of investor confidence than his bold development plans for the 10.5-hectare Greenfield District on the corner of EDSA and Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong? Campos envisions it to become the country’s first “smart and connected district” complete with garden areas, hotels, commercial establishments, residential and office towers.

The first residential condominium will be the 43-story Twin Oaks Place, which already has impressive model units near the site across Shaw Boulevard from Ortigas Center. Apart from ultra-modern wireless technologies provided by global leader Cisco designed to enhance the lifestyle of residents in Twin Oaks Place, Campos said that each Greenfield project has the guarantee of good quality due to their corporation’s strong track record as a developer.

Jeffrey Campos is the youngest child of the late immigrant “Pharmaceuticals King” Jose Yao Campos of Unilab, as well as maternal grandson of the late respected lumber tycoon and community leader Dee Hong Lue. Dee was a cousin of this writer’s paternal grandfather, both also in the sawmill business.

Since Campos’ maternal great-great-grandfather died early, his two sons, Calixto Dyyco and Dy Pac, were raised by his elder brother, who was my great-great-grandfather, the 19th-century Manila lumber entrepreneur Dy Han Kia. Dyyco was the maternal great-grandfather of Campos and there is still a prewar street named after him in Paco, Manila, but often misspelled as “Calixto Dyco.” Dee Hong Lue was a son of Dyyco, from a lumber business clan well-known for unassailable integrity, entrepreneurial courage and social idealism.

The elder Campos was an inspiring “rags-to-riches” industrialist and a low-profile but very generous philanthropist. As an employer, the elder Campos’ factories never experienced a single labor strike in decades.  

Jeffrey attributes his family’s strategy of investing in numerous realty properties, from Metro Manila to sprawling landholdings in Santa Rosa, Laguna, to his mother Beatrice Dee Campos. Although the fortuitous corporate name “Greenfield” was by the elder Campos, it is Jeffrey Campos who is behind the modern and elegant corporate logo as well as the development strategies of Greenfield.

Real estate and construction industry businessmen told this writer that unlike other scions of business families, Jeffrey seems to have been successful at building a strong corporate organization at Greenfield. Unlike other rich kids who either lost their family fortunes or dissipated their wealth, Campos has ably assembled a top-caliber professional management team led by Greenfield EVP, Atty. Duane Santos, and others for Greenfield’s various successful ventures.

Residences in Twin Oaks Place will have IP connectivity that will allow homeowners to use their mobile phones, laptops, iPads or office computers to access and control their homes’ lights, entertainment, air-conditioning, security systems and other amenities, similar to the high-tech homes we see in futuristic Hollywood movies.

Actually, this writer witnessed the launch of the unique conveniences of such “smart, connected” homes several years ago in Singapore. It was a project of Cisco and the Singapore government. The experience of such a home is simply breathtaking.

When asked why he and Greenfield Development Corp. are spending so much to procure the most modern technologies for Twin Oaks Place residential condominium and the emerging Greenfield District, Campos explained that they want to provide homebuyers and investors “their money’s worth in terms of good quality and innovation.”

He said that Greenfield as a realty developer wants to be always reliable and at the cutting edge of innovations because they have other ongoing — as well as future — realty projects. They want to solidify their corporate reputation of Greenfield as a top developer.

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