Mactan an apple of investors’ eyes: Developers like AppleOne Properties Inc. are eyeing investments in Mactan; the firm will launch 5 projects worth P8B in Cebu next year, 3 of them in Mactan

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport’s new Terminal 2 is one of the factors that will drive tourism in Cebu as well as other sectors like property and real estate especially in Mactan Island.

Whether residential or commercial, developers continue to eye Mactan Island for investments in the property sector.

Among those who remain bullish in this area is homegrown developer AppleOne Properties, Inc. which is eyeing to launch at least three more projects in the island alone in 2019.

“For next year, we are still very bullish in Cebu. We will focus on Cebu. There will be more developments, mixed-use,” said AppleOne President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Go Manigsaca.

AppleOne has earmarked an estimated amount of P8 billion for four to five mixed-use projects in Cebu next year – three in Mactan and two in Cebu City.

Property management and research firm Colliers International Philippines sees more and more developers pouring investments in the booming economy of Mactan Island.

Joey Bondoc, Colliers research manager, said the island had been very viable for resort-oriented, integrated communities.

These do not just include condominium and hotel projects, but also office and retail spaces.

This demand has been further fueled by the opening of the new Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) which is expected to bring in not just more tourists but foreign investors to Cebu.

“Given the upgrading of MCIA, we believe these resort-oriented townships will become more feasible. We see developments gravitating towards Mactan because of the accessibility and connectivity provided by the expanded MCIA,” he told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview on Friday.

While local developers already had a head start in terms of scouting for available land in the island, Bondoc said he would believe that the national developers would pretty soon start to aggressively look for parcels of land in Mactan.

This phenomenon would also drive up prices of land in the area and contribute to the local economy.

Portfolio
According to AppleOne, they are focusing on developing more commercial and mixed-used developments for the coming year.
Ray Patrick Manigsaca, assistant vice president for business development of AppleOne, said this would be their way of expanding their portfolio of projects in Cebu.

“Majority of our target next year is retail and commercial. Commercial leasing will be one of our focus. We are developing our portfolio. It is part of our five-year plan of being out there in the market,” the younger Manigsaca said.

One of the projects expected to be launched by the developer in the first quarter of 2019 is a mixed-used development in Mactan Island, which will have a three-star hotel, and business process outsourcing and retail spaces.

It will stand on a 7,500-square meter lot somewhere “in the heart of Mactan.”

AppleOne Properties, Inc. is the parent company of several property development ventures. Its headquarters is in the 19-storey AppleOne Equicom Tower in the Cebu Business Park.

Among its subsidiaries is AppleOne Mactan, Inc., the developer of the five-star Sheraton Cebu-Mactan Resort and The Residences at Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort.

Other subsidiaries include Brickwall Construction and Development which operates a mall under the Double Dragon Properties’ CityMall chain, CityMall Danao; and Sunsky Development Corp., the developer of Diamond Suites and Residences.

According to Manigsaca, they also see the continued improvement of the public’s purchasing power.

For one, AppleOne Mactan has already registered 90 percent sales of their residential units at The Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort, which is the first property of the international brand in Cebu.

The hotel part of the luxury property is expected to open by end of 2019.

The Residences portion of the property, which is Sheraton’s first branded residence in Southeast Asia, is due for turnover in 2020.

“We are optimistic of the growth and the buying power of the people,” the older Manigsaca said.