From building infra to creating communities
IBy
n the world of Philippine real estate and construction, a combination of four letters is synonymous to high-impact, quality and valuable infrastructure projects: DMCI. These four letters stand for David Mendoza Consunji, Inc. which was founded in 1954.
As a young man, Consunji was a concrete inspector who had a vision to build structures that at that time were considered ‘ambitious’.
Armed with that vision, and a Civil Engineering degree from U.P., Consunji built a five-decade record of building structures that changed the landscape of a nation.
From buildings to bridges, from schools to super highways, from mega malls to massive markets, DMCI has crafted these projects with fine workmanship and world-class quality enabling the company to even have projects overseas such as building the New Istana (Royal Palace) of the Sultanate of Brunei, the Salim-Halban Highway, and several ARAMCO facilities in Saudi Arabia, bridges in Kuwait, among others.
In 1995, DMCI Holdings, Inc. was incorporated. As a holding company, it consolidated all construction businesses, construction component companies and subsidiaries and affiliates. One of the companies under it is DMCI Homes, the company which has transformed from just being a builder of buildings and homes to a company offering a resort-inspired lifestyle to homeowners in the middle of the metro.
At the helm of DMCI Homes is president Alfredo R. Austria who has been with this company even before it was launched in 1999. Prior to this, he was with D.M. Consunji, Inc. and DMCI Holdings for 13 years and three years, respectively.
“It was in 1981 when I joined D.M. Consunji Inc. (DMCI) as overseas project coordinator. Under the leadership of our founding chair, Engineer David M. Consunji, I was involved in engineering, operations and later in business development. I handled various projects and positions including overseas project coordinator, senior civil engineer, project manager, direcin tor and later as head of the company’s business development group,” Austria recalled.
During his three-year stay in DMCI Holdings Inc., he became the VP for the Business and Research Development team and was also involved engineering and operations.
“At that time when I joined DMCI Holdings in 1997, the country was affected by the Asian Financial Crisis and there were a few construction projects being started. To generate jobs for the workers and technical staff, DMCI Holdings decided to venture into residential real estate and I was asked to head that effort. I was asked to head our housing group which is now known as DMCI Project Developers, Inc. or DMCI Homes,” Austria said.
DMCI Homes started with a notso-rosy economic environment. In fact, DMCI was reeling from the effects of the financial crisis but with the vision of founder David M. Consunji and his son, chairman Isidro Consunji, the company soldiered on.
“It started with our founder himself who believed that we can do urban housing better than what was currently in the market because of our experience in building better quality houses at lower costs. He wanted to build quality homes with resort-like amenities for middle-class families who have yet to have houses of their own,” said Austria.
The next decade that followed proved to be a boon to DMCI Homes. However, with this comes newer challenges, such as rising competition and the availability of similar themed projects from other developers. But with DMCI Homes’ track record as seen in its projects that have flourished around the metro, the company was unfazed.
“I’d like to believe that we have gained a strong following because of our track record of building homes that are of high-quality and value for money. We make sure that we prioritize the taste and preferences of our customers. We don’t just construct houses. We build and design our projects suitable to the market we serve. And we make sure that we know and meet their needs and preferences,” said Austria.
Even though the company is backed by years of experience and has already accomplished a lot of projects, it is not resting on its laurels. Technology has also transformed the real estate and construction industry and DMCI Homes is receptive to changes.
“We are collaborating with engineering consultants to make sure that we are in touch with the latest design software to optimize the design of our products. For example in 2017, we started adopting the Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology in the design and construction of our recently-launched projects like The Atherton, Fairlane Residences and Satori Residences,” revealed Austria. “Through the technology, we hope to further speed up our construction timeline and uphold our thrust of providing quality homes at best value.”