Luxury hotel brand enters Cebu with CLI partnership

CEBU, Philippines — Amid uncertainties in the tourism business, Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) announced the entry of luxury hotel Sofitel in Cebu.

The French hospitality chain Accor has partnered with Cebu-based developer CLI to open a 194-room hotel to add to Cebu’s luxury accommodation portfolio come 2025.

Located at the Cebu Business Patk, Sofitel Cebu will sit on a 50-story building development called The Masters Tower, which will also bring in retail and office facilities.

In an official virtual launching held yesterday, CLI chief executive officer (CEO) Jose Soberano III stressed that despite the ongoing threat of pandemic, this year the company decided to pursue its planned projects, saying that this year is “a time to rebound and abound.”

The P4 billion project is set to break ground by second quarter this year. According to CLI chief operating officer (COO) Jose Franco Soberano, the entry of Sofitel in Cebu signifies both companies’ confidence of the tourism rebound soon.

The LEED-registered Masters Tower Cebu is envisioned to be a major iconic landmark built in the post pandemic, designed by world’s most acclaimed skyscrapers Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in tandem with one of the country’s top architects GF Partners and Architects.

CLI has also inked a long term property lease deal with land-owner Vasa dani family.

The building will install a distinctive towering crown-like structure to represent the “Queen City of the South”.

It will rise on a 2,840 sqm property considered to be the remaining prime corner lot in the Cebu Business Park, Cebu City’s prestigious central business district.

The architectural masterpiece will top-off at 192 meters above sea level and will be among the top three tallest structures in the metropolis. It will have a structural height of 172 meters high, with an architectural design inspired by the best of Cebuano creativity and craftsmanship, and with sustainability as one of its cornerstones having been conceptualized to use energy and resources efficiently and responsibly.

Groundbreaking is slated for the second quarter of 2021. CLI is aiming for the building’s LEED Gold certification.

“This project is the culmination of our learnings as a full-line developer catering to a range of markets in one of the most dynamic regions of the country. We want to build this project for Cebu, to show our positive outlook for this growth city,” Jose Soberano III added.

 The tower’s office spaces from the 8th to the 12th floor anticipate the needs of locators who value efficiency and sustainability and keenly follow global trends. The spaces will highlight horizontal louvers to reduce solar heat by almost 70% and to create a comfortable work environment. In addition to the louvers that reflect Cebuano craftsmanship, sky gardens in every floor and throughout the LEED-registered building will enhance the well-being of its occupants.

Sustainability will further be reflected in the design of the 14th to the 32nd floors which will house the luxury hotel with 195 guest rooms, a grand ballroom, 2 restaurants, executive lounge, meeting rooms, roof deck, swimming pool, gym and spa.

Garth Simmons, Accor chief executive officer for Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea, expressed high optimism of Cebu’s tourism potential post pandemic, saying Cebu is an exciting destination and that if the full travel recovery kicks off, the Philippines in general will have exponential potential.