Developer to pour P12B into Cebu, VisMin projects in ’17

Jose R. Soberano III, Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) chief executive officer (right), together with Franco Soberano, CLI chief operating officer, discusses the firm’s plans and projects for the year in a briefing in Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

With Cebu’s real estate industry poised for more growth, a home-grown developer has set aside P12 billion for investments in more projects in Cebu and other key locations in Visayas and Mindanao.

Jose R. Soberano III, Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) chief executive officer (CEO), said that the P12 billion investment is the biggest investment for CLI’s projects in a year.

Soberano said since the firm started, it had allotted a P1 billion average investment for projects in a year.

He also said that this year’s projects would be completed in three to four years.

For this year, CLI is set to launch a high-rise, high-end condominium this month at the Cebu IT Park called 38 Park Avenue.

They are also adding another Casa Mira project in Guadalupe, a Mivesa Garden Residences project, the second phase of the Base Line Center, a mixed-use complex at A.S. Fortuna, and an Industrial Park in Minglanilla.

New locations

Franco Soberano, CLI chief operating officer (COO), said this year they are also opening projects in new cities, including Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo and Bacolod.

For these new locations, CLI is bringing in their economic brand Casa Mira and their garden series as entry point projects.

The CEO said they usually look at the market and know what the demand is, and for Bacolod, Iloilo and Dumaguete, there is a huge market for the Casa Mira products.

“In Dumaguete and Iloilo, we are bringing in the Casa Mira subdivisions while in Dumaguete, there is a market for the Casa Mira towers so we’re developing that,” the CEO said.

In Davao City, COO Soberano said they will be launching the MesaTierra Residences as an entry point project.

Entering Davao City for the first time with MesaTierra Garden Residences, the COO said that CLI aims to create tranquil and green living spaces for families and young professionals in this fourth of the garden series that is also set to be launched this month.

He said that they would be launching a second project, Velmiro Heights Cagayan, which would add to their presence in Cagayan de Oro.

IPO

The CEO said the company had also been working on getting publicly listed by second quarter of this year.

“We are about to file the application for the IPO listing very soon. We’re putting our IPO (listing) in high gear. It’s going to happen by second quarter of this year,” he said.

When that happens, the CEO said that CLI will be among just a few Cebuano companies that are publicly listed.

He said that the IPO is their way to pool in more funds to finance more expansions in the coming years.

No. 1 developer

Named as the number one local developer in Metro Cebu by CBRE Philippines, CLI has over 25 developments done in the last 12 years since they first started in 2003.

COO Soberano said CLI is still primarily a residential developer with 84 percent of the firm’s projects belonging in this segment.

About 38 percent of their residential projects are horizontal developments while 46 percent are vertical.

Majority of their projects are middle end (57 percent), 19 percent are highend, 19 percent economic and 5 percent socialized.

“We are also developing office projects (13 percent) and hotels (4 percent) with our partnership with Ascott International for The Citadines Cebu,” he said.

More hotel projects

The firm’s COO also said they are planning to add more hotel projects in the future in other locations including Mactan Island.

CEO Soberano also said they are open to working with other hotel chain brands for more projects in Cebu and in areas where they already have presence.