Moving north

Developers expand to north Cebu with horizontal projects in Consolacion and Compostela towns

As real estate prices continue to shoot up in Cebu City, homegrown developers are setting their eyes on northern Cebu to take advantage of the area’s growth potential as well as to avoid a housing meltdown in the rapidly growing metropolitan area.

Such is the case of these two developers launching two residential projects in northern Cebu — Priland Development Corp. with their Belize North project in Consolacion town and Paramount Property Ventures Inc. (PPVI) with their Wellington Greens project in Compostela town.

“Growth needs to be spread outside Cebu City, which is becoming saturated with real estate developments already, to prevent a meltdown,” said Irvin Paul Pastoriza, Priland’s sales manager on Tuesday as Priland officials announced their third project in Cebu this year.

A housing meltdown or a housing bubble is defined as a “run-up in housing prices fueled by demand, speculation and exuberance.” At some point, demand decreases or stagnates at the same time supply increases, resulting in a sharp drop in prices — and the bubble bursts.

The developer has earmarked P3 billion to P5 billion for 10 projects to be launched until 2020. Of this, four are on Mactan Island and two are in Consolacion. Earlier this month, the company launched an economic housing project in Balamban, midwest Cebu.

The company’s latest project is Belize North, a 2.2-hectare modern Asian–inspired horizontal housing project in Barangay Nangka, Consolacion, a northern town about 12.5 km from Cebu City. It is the third project the firm introduced this year.

“Consolacion is fast becoming a desirable destination for horizontal living. After Mandaue City, where property prices are increasing, Consolacion is the best next option for developers. Basically, it is the next big thing,” Pastoriza said.

The company has set aside P266 million for project development, with land development expected to begin by November this year and completion targeted after two years.

Belize North will have 196 units comprising townhouses, single attached, and single detached housing units with a price range of P2.1 million to P5 million.

Marcelino Relampagos, Priland general manager, said that they are also concentrating in the north because the demand is there.

He said that in the south, Naga City and San Fernando town still have a bias toward industrial developments.

Furthermore, he said the Talisay City government has also put a temporary stoppage on the construction of horizontal housing projects as it tries to solve urbanization problems such as flooding and waste disposal.

Relampagos said they are also eyeing the southern part of Cebu after 2019 and even places outside the province.

He earlier said they were open to the idea of expanding to Bohol, Dumaguete and even as far as Davao.

Priland president Carlo Yap, meanwhile, also announced a planned 42-hectare mixed-use development in Barangay Jugan, Consolacion, set to be unveiled by end-2019 or early 2020.

The project will be the company’s 11th undertaking and will feature residential, commercial as well as light industrial components.

“We are looking at more key areas to develop as we are poised for more growth,” Yap said.

The company executive earlier said the decision to invest in all these ventures came as a response to improvements in infrastructure as well as the influx of businesses, particularly in the business process outsourcing industry, here.

For lifestyle residential developer, Paramount Property Ventures Inc. (PPVI), the firm is also expanding north with their Wellington Greens project in Barangay Cogon, Compostela, a northern town 31.6 km from Cebu City.

The project is a P1.2-billion residential community comprising of around 600 houses across 10 to 12 hectares of land.

The Wellington Greens is the company’s first project in northern Cebu, having been focused on developing the southern part of the province since its establishment in 2006. The project is a result of the partnership between Cañedo Equity Ventures, Inc. (CEV), PPVI’s mother company, and the Norkis Group of Companies.

The project will feature six Zen–inspired house models with amenities designed to allow more outdoor activities for members of the community.

Rey Maribao, CEV vice president for strategic corporate planning and business development, said Compostela is an ideal place for PPVI to expand.

“An indication is the planned developments of the third–class municipality to become a high growth area in Metro Cebu, coupled with the town’s high population growth of 2.27 percent every year,” he said.

Maribao said they estimate to spend P6 to P10 billion for four to six projects annually in the next five years for expansion, with concentration in other parts of Cebu as well as the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao.

He said the expansion plans also indicate the company’s aggressiveness in helping address the country’s housing backlog, which currently stands at 5.7 million.