From chicken to dragon
EDGAR “Injap” J. Sia II has made a recognizable name in the fast food industry through Mang Inasal and its famous grilled chicken. But the 31st richest man in the land (with a net worth of $390 million as of 2014, according to Forbes magazine) is already making a name in a different industry — the real estate — through DoubleDragon Properties Corp. ( DoubleDragon).
The company, which was then called Injap Land Corp., was established in 2009 as a wholly owned real estate arm of Injap Investments Inc., where Mr. Sia serves as chairman. It is currently engaged in various horizontal and vertical development projects nationwide.
It was renamed to its present appellation in 2012 in line with the 50/50 joint venture deal of Injap Investments and Honeystar Holdings Corp. headed by Tony Tan Caktiong, who is also the founder of Jollibee Foods Corp. that bought Mang Inasal in 2010 for $68 million.
The company has four subsidiaries: DoubleDragon Sales Corp.; One Eleven Property Management Corp.; CityMall Commercial Center, Inc. (CMCCI); and Piccadilly Circus Landing Corp.
DoubleDragon aims to be one of the largest commercial and residential property developers in the Philippines come 2020. And in April 2014, the company entered a new, exciting phase to fulfill its vision when it had its initial public offering (IPO) after raising P1.16 billion. From then on, it has been growing at a notably rapid pace.
Almost a month after its IPO, DoubleDragon disclosed its plan to build a mall in the bustling Divisoria district in Manila. The Dragon 8 Shopping Center, as it’s called, will sit atop a 5,972 square meter (sq. m.) lot at the corner of the streets of C.M. Recto and Dagupan. It is expected to house several retail shops, a food court, more than a thousand tiangge stalls and hundreds of parking lots.
Meanwhile, through CMCCI, its majorityowned subsidiary, it seeks to establish a total of 100 community malls with floor area of 5,000 to 10,000 sq. m. mostly in Visayas and Mindanao.
A prime commercial land spanning 10,251 sq. m. in Consolacion, a suburb northeast of Cebu City, was acquired by CMCCI last year. Less than a month after this acquisition, CMCCI purchased another land where the second Cebu mall will be built. The 1.1-hectare property is located along N. Bacalso Avenue in downtown Cebu and strategically lies between an existing mall and the Cebu South Bus Terminal.
In another Visayan province, Iloilo, CMCCI has leased two prime lots — the 1.19-hectare lot in Ungka, Pavia, beside the Pavia People’s Transport Terminal, and a 0.8-hectare lot in Tagbak, Jaro, across the Tagbak Bus Terminal.
Back in Luzon, a 26-year lease agreement was signed between CMCCI and the Chan family, producer of Oishi snacks, for a property along the busy Aguinaldo Highway in Anabu, Imus in Cavite.
Besides malls, the other properties in the portfolio of the Sia-led company include the 31-storey W.H. Taft Residences beside De La Salle University along Taft Avenue in Manila; a 111-unit townhouse project called FirstHomes Iloilo; 21-storey Injap Tower; People’s Condominium, the first condominium development in Iloilo City; and the 236-unit The Uptown Place condominium project.
Last month, DoubleDragon reported that its net income for the year 2014 grew by 360% to P560.8 million.