Developer to launch more commercial development projects in Cebu, Luzon

CEBU, Philippines - Inspired with the success of the Pueblo Verde in Mactan, the “community center” concept of the flagship commercial development of property developer AboitizLand, Inc. will soon be replicated in Cebu and in Luzon.

AboitizLand Inc. commercial business unit manager Clifford Academia told the reporters that the company intends to launch more commercial retail projects which will complement the residential and industrial developments of AboitizLand.

“We want our commercial developments attached with our industrial or residential projects. We want them to be integrated,” he said.

Pueblo Verde is five-hectare commercial village located along Maximo Patalinghug Avenue, within the Mactan Economic Zone 2 (MEZ 2) in Barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City. It features a variety of banking, shopping, dining, retail and other service options.

AboitizLand then established the Persimmon Plus in support of its mid-rise condominium project, the Persimmon Studios, in Mabolo.

Academia said that they are currently laying out the plan for the commercial development for its Pristina North residential project in Talamban, Cebu City. 

He further revealed that they are eyeing to expand in a potential commercial property that they recently acquired in LiMA Technology Center, an industrial park of the LiMA Land Inc. located in Batangas City that is currently operational.

He added that they shall also venture to further commercial estates in partnership with their big brother and big sister companies engaged into residential and industrial developments. 

“It will be the same concept of Pueblo Verde and Persimmon Plus. We see the relevance of the community center to the day-to-day activities of the public,” he said.

AboitizLand is also working out on their expansion plans for the residential projects in Luzon to take place within this year.

To date, Pueblo Verde is already 98-percent occupied with over 100 merchants housed in the commercial hub. Academia announced that the remaining two percent is currently open for lease, adding that they are looking at fast food chains as potential merchants.

He further shared that SM Hypermarket will soon rise at Pueblo Verde, covering 2 000 square meters of the property.

It will be constructed starting next month and is expected to be completed in the later part of this year.

He said that the entry of national players to Pueblo Verde is an indicator of good business environment that the commercial hub is giving to its locators.

“It is fast becoming a lifestyle to the public and a good investment for our merchants. It was an evolution from a community center to a lifestyle destination with a shopping component,” he said.

Academia cited that the average foot traffic recorded last year at Pueblo Verde reached up to 15,000 per day. This is reportedly a 20-percent increase to the foot traffic recorded in 2012. 

He said that aside from the local and foreign tourists who come to The Outlets, the residents in the city and employees in the economic zone that could reach up to 30 000 workers from close to 50 companies contribute to such positive figures. 

It was last December that AboitizLand opened the region’s first factory outlet shopping destination, The Outlets, occupying a one-hectare property at Pueblo Verde.

It is a stand-alone mall that is conceptualized to allow manufacturers to offer their products directly to the consumers at discounted prices.

Currently, the newly-opened shopping destination houses top global brands such as Oakley, Nike, Levi’s, Converse, Adidas, and The Peso Store and national food and recreational chains such as Calda Pizza, Bo’s Coffee, 7 Eleven and Wat Ever Family KTV,  14 more outlets will be opened by the first quarter of this year.

The company shall also allot another two-hectare area for the expansion of the Outlets that will soon house an additional of 20 stores carrying international fashion brands.

Academia said that construction will start in the second quarter of this year and is targeted to be completed by yearend.  (FREEMAN)