Cebu Landmasters to build business district in Davao

Homegrown developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is poised to expand its footprint in Mindanao following a joint venture agreement with four Davao-based companies to convert the Matina golf club into a “world-class business and lifestyle township.”

In a disclosure on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the Cebu-based company said the 20-hectare Davao Matina Business Park is set to become Davao’s true central business district.

“Cebu Landmasters is bullish to invest in the Davao market and we are happy to serve the growing property requirements of the Davaoeños and of those coming from neighboring provinces,” CLI chairman and chief executive officer Jose Soberano III said.

Last Monday, Soberano led the signing of the joint venture agreement in Davao City with Plaza Luisa Development represented by Jason Huang, Yuson Newtown Corporation and Yuson Strategic Holdings Inc. represented by Frederick Yuson, and Davao Primeland Properties Corp. also represented by Yuson.

Yuson explained that the 17.1-hectare lot has been used as a golf course since the 1960s and that now was the best time to transform it into a business park to be able to contribute to the economic and social development of the city.

CLI is also acquiring a 2.2-hectare lot adjacent to the property, bringing the total project area to almost 20 hectares.

The homegrown developer is likewise in the process of negotiating the acquisition of more adjacent lots to further increase the park’s footprint.

Concept studies for the Davao Matina Business Park show the development of seven office buildings, four retail buildings which include an indoor mall, Cineplex mall, standalone, retail podium, as well as 29 residential condominium buildings, six townhome-style buildings, one hotel, one convention center, one medical building and a civic center.

“We pay close attention to the needs of the market and we design and build our developments with the market in mind,” Soberano said.

Site development and the construction of phase one of the 20-hectare project, estimated to cost P2 billion, is expected to begin in 2018 and finish by 2021. This will include the construction of an office building, retail building, a residential condominium and the civic center.

Davao Matina Business Park is CLI’s third development in Davao City, the first one being MesaTierra Garden Residences, a residential condominium expected to be completed in 2020 while the second is Project Riverside, a mixed-use development on a 1.9-hectare lot in Matina due for completion in 2021.

CLI’s newest township development in Matina is a 30-minute drive from the Francisco Bangoy International Airport and two kilometers away from Project Riverside.

Key projects scheduled to be launched in Cebu during the fourth quarter include the mixed-use Astra Centre in Mandaue City which will feature 10,000 square meters of retail space, 467 residential units, and 158 hotel units; the 727-unit Casa Mira Towers in Guadalupe, Cebu; and the 351-unit Base Line Prestige residential condominium, also in Cebu.

Last September, CLI announced that it will roll out P10.61 billion for projects in the Visayas and Mindanao for the remaining months of the year, bringing its total investment to P17.7 billion for 2017.