Ryan Bernard Go, Grand Land Inc. president, gives an update on the East Tower’s construction progress in this March 2015 file photo.
The first of five condominium buildings planned for Grand Residences is slated for turnover next month.
Tina Pestaño, Grand Land, Inc. vice president for sales and marketing, said 98 percent of the 247 condominium units in East Tower A or Tower 1 has been sold.
Turnover of Tower 2, which is 95 percent sold, is also expected by the end of 2015.
Pestaño said that for the first two towers of the five tower development, majority of their unit owners are Filipinos who acquired units to serve as their secondary or primary homes.
“Majority of the owners are Cebuanos, followed by those from nearby towns, then from other regions,” she said. The international buyers purchase units for investment purposes. Tower 3, which will be completed in 2018, is 75 percent sold.
All five towers will be completed in 2020, with a total of around 2,000 units, Pestaño said.
Two amenities in the 3.2-hectare development will also be released with Tower 1 -the park and the lagoon. Other amenities are a swimming pool and a commercial center.
The Amani Grand Resort Residences Mactan, another Grand Land development project, will complete its first tower in 18 months.
The project features six 6-story condominium buildings. A similar project still under the Amani brand will be launched in Davao City in the first quarter of 2016.
Pestaño said the increasing traffic congestion problems that Cebu is facing have boosted the real estate activity in the city, as opposed to hampering its growth.
“The real essence of condo living is to have your home near your workplace and activity areas. The traffic boosted condominium projects particularly within the city because now everyone is looking for a primary or secondary home nearer to where they work,” she said.
However, for investors, the traffic conditions and bad infrastructure may dissuade them from investing in businesses in the city.
A professor of English and Business in Kanda University of International Studies, Hisatoshi Tachibana, said he would still rather invest in businesses or properties in Cebu than in Manila.
“The main reason is safety. Here I can work until 10 p.m. and don’t have to worry while going home. In Manila, I’m scared to stay out that late,” he said.
The professor, who has invested in four units in Tower 3 of Grand Residences, added that if the city can improve its infrastructure and urban planning, more foreign investors will come to see what Cebu has to offer.
Grand Land is the property development arm of the Gaisano Grand Group.