Grand Land Inc. ties up with Dusit International Hotel for new project
Ryan Bernard Go, Grand Land Inc. president, says the North Reclamation Area is an ideal site for a hotel because of its access to neighboring cities of Cebu and Mandaue.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
A four-star hotel will soon rise at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City, a partnership between a Cebu real estate developer and Thailand’s Dusit International Hotel.
Ryan Bernard Go, Grand Land Inc. president, said their P2-billion investment, his company’s first hotel venture, supports Cebu’s branding as a tourism hub and venue for international events and conventions.
“The demand is there. Cebu is already in the radar of the international market because of its tourism growth. We are also preparing the infrastructure for tourism. Hopefully we can build more hotels soon,” said Go in a press conference yesterday at his office.
Go cited Cebu’s hosting of international conventions and events like this year’s Apec summit, the Cobra Ironman triathlon, and next year’s International Eucharistic Congress (IEC).
With these events, there is a limited number of hotels to address the demand for rooms, he said.
Tourism arrivals have been increasing over the years. Koreans and Americans are the top foreign visitors, but a growing number of Europeans and Russians are finding their way to Cebu.
“Cebu doesn’t have many international brand quality hotels. What we have are mostly local hotels. If you are a tourist, you are sometimes anxious when you aren’t familiar with the place you’re staying in,” he said.
Grand Land’s project will be built on a lot in the North Reclamation Area across SM Cebu’s Northwing.
Construction is expected to start before the year ends.
Go said they are waiting for paper work to be completed before formally sealing their partnership with Dusit and the completion of building plans.
The 23-story building will be designed for mixed use. The first two floors will be for retail while the next 11 floors will be set aside for offices. The other 10 upper floors will be used as a condotel.
Dusit will be operating the entire building like a hotel that caters to business and family leisure needs.
“We want to offer the public good quality at a very reasonable price,” he said.
The contract for the building’s structural works is being bidded out starting May and will take six months, after which building construction starts.
Go said they picked the NRA as a location because of its wide roads and proximity to commercial establishments in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.
He said he was confident that traffic congestion in the area will be addressed with the rehabilitation of the S. Osmeña Road.
“That area (NRA) is not really a traffic area if the roads are already fixed because the roads are wide. It sits in the center of Cebu City. It’s even much better if you are located there because you are serving neighboring cities,” said Go.
He said their hotel will also have a good view of the nearby Mactan Channel.