Developer: January right time to touch base with market

Local developers and traders see the month of January as a perfect time to touch base with their market and cover all prospective buyers due to the influx of visitors here for the Fiesta Señor and the Sinulog activities.

“For the last five years, we have been doing major events in time for Sinulog,” said Archie Igot, project development officer of Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI), during the groundbreaking ceremony for phase two of One Oasis in Mabolo, Cebu City last Saturday.

Igot said December through January, especially the latter, is the perfect time to mount major project milestones such as launchings and announcements for expansion since this is the period when local and foreign tourists as well as returning overseas Filipino workers — their target market — abound.

The developer has coupled Sinulog activities with their own activities so they can showcase their projects and capture all possible prospects, said Igot.

“In the Visayas, Cebu is really booming and the way to sell Cebu is maximizing the influx of possible buyers in time for Sinulog and Christmas,” he added.

In 2016, police estimated 3 million to have participated in the Sinulog Grand Parade alone. The Sinulog Grand Parade will fall on Jan. 15 this year.

One Oasis

The second phase of One Oasis Cebu will complete the master-planned community with the addition of four mid-rise buildings, eyed for completion within four years.

Land development for phase two will be completed before the end of 2017, while each tower will be built 12 months apart.

One Oasis, a sprawling 3.7-hectare commune, is located along F. Cabahug Street where business hubs, offices, hotels, schools, churches, health clinics, and commercial establishments are all within short distance.

The project, estimated to cost P2 billion, was launched in 2011 and is expected to have 1,250 units upon completion.
An estimated 600 two-bedroom units and studio units from the project’s first four towers have been turned over to its buyers to date. The 260-unit fifth tower, which is still under construction and will be ready for occupancy by June, is already 50 percent sold.

Igot said the homeowners split between those who live in the units and those who rent them out at P30,000 to P45,000 per month.

Angelyn Racaza, OIC area sales head, said historically, their buyers have been 40 percent OFWs or foreign and 60 percent local.

“Cebuanos are now more open to investing in condominium units, unlike before when they were very conservative,” she said.

She said that most of those who invest in units to be rented out are locals, while those that occupy these spaces are Japanese, Russians, and other Europeans.

The developer is also set to break ground for another residential building at San Remo located within the South Road Properties (SRP) before the end of January. FLI projects in Cebu include Corona del Mar, City di Mare, One Oasis and Aldea del Sol./Reporter Victor Anthony V. Silva