Cebu Landmasters: Vis-Min is a real estate hot spot
Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) has begun pouring some P12 billion in investments to maximize opportunities presented by real estate centers in the Visayas-Mindanao (Vis-Min) area where growth has been unprecedented in the past few years.
In Vis-Min, close to 16,500 hectares have been earmarked by industry players for 45 mixed-use developments, according to studies by Leechiu Property Consultants.
Jose Soberano III, CLI founder, president and chief executive officer of the number one local real estate developer in Metro Cebu asserts there is room for even more growth fuelled mostly by the expansion of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, sustained remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and flagship infrastructure projects to pump prime tourism outside of Luzon.
“Seeing a compelling mix of opportunities posed by record growth in the region, we are broadening our expansion to rapidly growing cities like Metro Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, Dumaguete and of course Cebu,” he said.
Vis-Min’s unprecedented growth
This favorable investment environment is buoyed up by the projected sustained growth of the BPO industry from the current 1.7 million to 2.1 million full-time workers by the year 2022.
An estimated 20,000 new jobs were generated by the industry in Cebu alone in 2016, according to studies. The global business outsourcing think tank Tholons has declared Metro Cebu as a top outsourcing destination in the world, ranking seventh worldwide. Iloilo, Bacolod and Dumaguete have also been dubbed as “Next Wave cities” where BPOs are fielding operations in search of new talents.
To fill in Cebu’s rising demand for office and residential space as a favored BPO hub, CLI is completing the top-end Baseline HQ office project in a strategic Metro Cebu location.
CLI will soon begin construction of Latitude Corporate Center, destined to be a prestige office address for small and large business and BPOs in the Cebu Business Park.
The growth of the real estate industry has also been driven by overseas contract workers from the Vis-Min area who account for 33.4% of all OFWs. Mr. Soberano observed: “Many overseas workers use their remittances to acquire real estate back home. CLI’s Casa Mira projects, its economic housing offering in Linao, Minglanilla, Cebu, Naga City and Dumaguete City, for instance, count many OFW families as homeowners and residents. Some 60% of CLI residential buyers are OFWs.”
Tourism growth in the region, with Metro Cebu taking the lead with its average growth rate of 11.58% in the past four years, has contributed to the real estate boom in Visayas and Mindanao.
This January 2017, for example, some 122,613 visitors entered the Philippines through the Mactan- Cebu International Airport and 51,939 arrived through the Kalibo International Airport. The Department of Tourism in Mindanao expects a maximum tourism growth of 20%.
To meet visitors’ growing needs, CLI is building a Citadines Cebu City Hotel managed by The Ascott with 180 rooms to be completed in 2019, just as the new Mactan International Airport takes in its first passengers. Two more hotel projects are also in the offing for CLI in Cebu.
CLI beginnings
Since 2003 when CLI put up its first economic housing project in Balamban, Cebu, the company has thrived by giving more to both OFW families and midincome workers by way of a strategic location near access roads and generous amenities like a clubhouse and play area. “You can never go wrong with a good location and offering buyers great value,” observed Mr. Soberano, who worked for the Ayala Group of Companies for 23 years.
In 2010, the company expanded to residential condominiums through a project in Cebu I.T. Park, which was incidentally one of Mr. Soberano’s key projects as Ayala Land’s Cebu Holdings vice-president. Today, Cebu Landmasters has gained the second-highest market share in Metro Cebu at 11%, next only to Joe’s previous employer, Ayala Land at 17%. CLI accounts for 11,141 residential housing units in various stages of construction and over 28 developments from residential to hospitality, commercial, offices and mixeduse mostly in Cebu, including Cagayan de Oro and Davao.
Vis-Min expansion
According to Mr. Soberano, CLI is developing 11 new projects in 2017 alone in the identified Vis-Min hot spots of Cebu, Metro Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod and Dumaguete. CLI launched its first project in Davao in March this year, a mid-end residential condo in the heart of Davao which sold 80% of 694 units in less than a month.
CLI counts on its homecourt advantage and local knowledge to better respond and deliver real estate products sought out by buyers, according to Mr. Soberano. “Our ability to conceptualize and market projects across all real estate product lines and deliver personalized service, quality and great value makes us uniquely equipped in the region to maximize available opportunities.”
Going public
The company has filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to 580 million common shares through an initial public offering to support its aggressive expansion plans in Vis-Min, where it aims to be the most preferred developer in the region.
Cebu Landmasters, which intends to be the first homegrown Cebuano developer to go public, reported sales as of end-2016 with P2.17 billion, a 41% increase from 2015 and a net income of P702 million, rising 30% from a year earlier.