Real estate, Italpinas style
The northern Italian city of Verona has been immortalized twice in William Shakespeare’s literary masterpieces “Romeo and Juliet” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” In a tribute to the Bard of Avon and also inspired by the historic city, listed developer Italpinas Development Corp. (IDC) recently launched the Verona Green Apartments.
IDC Chairman and CEO Romolo V. Nati explained in an e-mail interview with the Businessmirror that the city made famous by Shakespeare’s tragedy has endured and continues to appeal across several generations. “I found this quite poetic, because it’s an enduring piece of local lore, born out of a cross-cultural synergy [between the local setting, and a foreign author], and perfectly framed by the relevant architecture. The low-rise building and the human scale of the balcony are precisely what make this romantic legend possible,” Nati explained.
Enduring charm of Verona
“ARCHITECTS are both technicians and artists. Our buildings must perform well, but they are also works of art, and all works of art are influenced by the styles and artistic movements of their time, or their place. Sometimes a work of art will contribute to the current artistic movement, and sometimes they will rebel against it,”nati added.
Unlike in Asia and North America where urban development emphasizes vertical developments such as the skyscrapers, Nati said Italy’s city centers do the opposite.
There are strict heritage preservation rules, which maintain the city centers in a more human scale.
Nati said the magic and allure of the Verona project site is that it elegantly combines both ambiences. It offers privacy and a communal setting, with an intimacy maintained by its elongated shape running parallel to the main road, and yet its gateway is literally across the main road from the bustling commercial center of Uptown Cagayan de Oro, with the SM Mall, shops and restaurants, and of course IDC’S existing projects, which will also be lifestyle destinations in themselves.
Furthermore, the project site has the characteristics needed to bring this alchemy to life here and now. Our inspiration is to unlock this unique chemistry with IDC’S “architectural vision.”
Verona Green Apartments is a joint venture project between IDC and the Cagayan de Oro-based Go family, one of the prominent business clans in the city.
La dolce vita
NATI said the P1.2-billion project will consist of a series of 4-storey walk-up green buildings, offering both residential and commercial space. The project will rise on an 11,327-square-meter property owned by the Go family in floodfree Uptown Cagayan de Oro City. Furthermore, the new project site is located near IDC’S existing developments (Primavera Residences and Primavera City), enabling the company to leverage its well-established knowledge of the local area and its dynamic market conditions.
Nati said IDC has a great start for 2022 with the launching of the Verona Green Apartments. “We’re lucky that we have been able to continue strongly with sales, operations, and business development during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, and this new project is one of the outcomes of that business development thrust,” he said.
“As a company, we know Cagayan de Oro [CDO] well, and we love it for its people, its energy, and its inspiring growth. It was in CDO where we built our very first development [Primavera Residence], which is followed by a larger one [Primavera City], and now by the Verona Green Apartments. Because we are established there, we can immediately leverage our existing operational capacity to confidently accelerate the Verona project, and we are looking forward to doing this,” Nati added.
As an ardent supporter of environmentalism, Nati said the Verona Green Apartments will use the Excellence In Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) for its green certification ratings. The Primavera City and Primavera Residences have also used the EDGE ratings system.
Prices of the units in the Verona Green Apartments will range from P1.2 million to P1.5 million. All studio units will have a 23-sqm space with a balcony. The project is planned to be completed in two phases, and is currently designed to consist of about 900 residential units and around 50 commercial spaces.
“We will deliver the typical IDC product with Italian design and green features to a different market. It is an extremely interesting market not only because of its size, but above all because we believe that all market segments should be able to own sustainable real estate products. In terms of design philosophy, however, Verona will be consistent with all other IDC projects. It will deliver the same sustainable green design philosophies that we incorporate in all our work. This includes the harnessing of natural conditions to create comfort and efficiency. For example, the flow of air is deliberately predetermined by our architectural designs. Light and shadow are also modeled digitally so we can design for natural illumination without the heat of direct sunlight. All these details are at the heart of our creative process. They deliver greater comfort, but less demand on electricity for airconditioning and lighting, which are the main consumers of energy in a tropical climate. On top of this, the result must be beautiful to the eye, and representative of the forward-looking orientation of Philippine cities, where progress is constant, and the market’s taste is growing more and more demanding,” Nati said.
This will ensure future residents to have a taste of la dolce vita.