Successful living by design
A home that provides a genuinely pleasurable living experience does not happen by accident nor by chance, but by deliberate design. Real estate veteran Miriam O. Katigbak, president and chief operating officer of GeoEstate Development Corporation, knows this much to be true, and as such has made good design a distinctive feature in all the projects of the independent real estate firm.
“When people hear the word ‘design,’ the notion is that it is an addition or a flourish— something unnecessary or can be done away with,” says Katigbak, who has close to four decades of experience heading the commercial properties group of the largest and most experienced developer in the country.
“On the contrary, design is the core of planning. Design simply means studying a need or problem and how to address it most efficiently,” she clarifies. “The fact is that good design underpins everything in life that is successful and efficient, and nowhere is this most felt than in the business of building living spaces.”
At GeoEstate, Katigbak feels fortunate that from lifestyle centers and malls, she is now able to parlay her eye for design to residential dwellings. Beginning with the company’s hugely successful maiden project in 2007 called The Beacon, a threetower residential high-rise in Makati, to its latest exclusive high-end condominium enclave Sonria in Alabang, all feature a careful consideration for design that is both aesthetic and functional.
Especially in such vertical communities where space is scarce, good design is put to the test by being able to offer an optimum living experience to residents not just within the units but outside as well—in the common areas, amenities, as well as in important features such as landscaping.
“We are able to achieve this because as an independent developer, we have more freedom to do what we want as opposed to being dictated by market forces,” explains Katigbak. “We are able to design and plan more with the genuine welfare of our future homeowners in mind. We plan, test, and plan again if needed until we achieve the right execution of our ideas.”
Just a few years ago, GeoEstate decided to foray into the land and houses market segment with its 5.5-hectare Soluna community in the burgeoning suburb of Bacoor in Cavite. Applying the same formula for deliberate design, GeoEstate offered an exclusive inventory of 200 house and lot units that featured maximum living spaces nestled in a rarefied atmosphere no different from exclusive, gated subdivisions usually found in Metro Manila.
With warm reception from the market and brisk sales that saw the inventory almost completely snapped up in just a little over two years, the company found that it had touched on an underserved market of homebuyers seeking the traditional comforts, security and spaciousness of single-detached home living in a low-density setting. As such, GeoEstate is forging on with a similar new horizontal project within the same Cavite locale on a slightly bigger scale, partnering with New Pacific Resources Management in the development. Dubbed Solviento, it is a masterplanned community covering a larger area of 17 hectares. The first phase of development is Solviento Villas, which will be composed of house and lot units and townhouses as well. Similar to GeoEstate’s earlier subdivision offering, Solviento will offer the advantages of exclusive subdivision living at a price that is within reach of upwardly mobile middle-class Filipino families.
Townhomes provide 49 to 50 square meters of livable space, optimized with two bedrooms and two bathrooms plus a carport provision. Single-detached homes, meanwhile, begin at 68 square meters of livable area up to 97 square meters, with two to three bedrooms and two to three bathrooms plus a carport provision with one to two slots.
As part of its innovative design, the Solviento masterplan will offer a commercial center as well as a college in order to provide future residents with all they would ever need for convenient everyday living. Katigbak cautions that it is not a megalopolis but “a self-contained community still on a human scale. Everything is within reach and there is the familiar feeling of being with like-minded neighbors.”
Katigbak expounds that there is a growing segment of homebuyers moving away from masterplanned city centers. “Within these big centers, we find that people naturally break up into smaller communities. I feel there is a certain threshold where residents feel more at ease being part of a community that is still relatable on a personal level, and that is what we seek to provide as an alternative.”
By all indications, according to Katigbak, being sensitive to buyers’ needs is a guiding principle that the company will continue to follow as it moves forward with new offerings.
“We always conceptualize and develop land with such a careful and deliberate approach. We want to always provide genuine value directly to our homeowners and residents, who have placed so much trust in us and our capabilities,” concludes Katigbak.
For more information on Solviento Villas, call 0947-602-0756, 0945739-8451, (046) 683-5737, or visit its showroom along Bacoor Boulevard in Cavite.