Cebu developer eyes share of serviced apartments market

GRANDLAND BUILDING.(CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

GRAND RESIDENCES NORTH TOWER A topped off

A homegrown real estate developer expressed confidence in Cebu’s serviced apartments market amid the booming tourism industry here.

Tina Pestano, vice president for sales and marketing at Grand Land, Inc., said this type of property is something that a lot of international travelers and investors look for in a growing city.

“Most of those who stay in serviced apartments want to stay long, with the feel and convenience of living in a hotel. In an ordinary apartment, you take care of everything. In a serviced apartment, it’s like a condominium unit but with the services of a hotel,” she said in a press conference for the topping off of Grand Land’s 35-storey Grand Residences North Tower A along Gov. Cuenco Avenue on Thursday.

Pestano said the expansion of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) signals the influx of foreign tourists and businessmen to Cebu.

The growth of the number of hotel rooms in Cebu City alone has been robust in recent years, owing to the metropolitan being positioned as the gateway to the rest of Visayas and Mindanao.

“In 2018, the new (MCIA) passenger terminal will welcome 12.5 million people. Where will you put all the people? We only have a number of hotel rooms,” she said.

Colliers Philippines estimates there are currently 15,000 hotel rooms in Cebu City, but Pestano said 200,000 to 300,000 people come in and out of the locality every day.

Grand Land is now marketing the serviced apartments concept to potential buyers, a feature that will be incorporated in its P1-billion Grand Residences North Tower B, the fourth edifice within the developer’s 3.2-hectare property in uptown Cebu City.

North Tower A is set to be turned over starting in the first quarter of 2018 while North Tower B, which is also 35 storeys, is due for completion in 2022.

The fourth tower will feature more than 400 residential condominium units and 163 serviced apartment units.

To date, Grand Land has sold around 100 units to investors from Europe and Japan.

Pestano explained that serviced apartments are similar to condominium-hotels, which are put out for rent, except that the former concept has a full kitchen, dining and living rooms, and laundry area.

Condotels usually charge occupants per night while serviced apartments are rented out for a longer term, such as a minimum of one week to six months or one year.

Each unit, which spans 45 to 48 square meters, costs P8 million and can be rented out for P6,000 to P10,000 a day, generating an annual return of investment between 8 to 11 percent.

The serviced apartments of Grand Land will be managed by the Dusit Thani International chain’s Dusit D2 brand, which Pestano described as more modern contemporary and chic, targeting the millennials. Pestano said the management contract will run for 20 years.

Grand Land, the real estate arm of the Gaisano Grand Group, has earmarked P6 billion for pipeline projects in the next three to five years but Pestano said this could still increase.

This year, the developer is set to launch two condotels in Oslob town and Mactan Island as well as reintroduce its mass housing project in Minglanilla.