Overcoming hurdles
IT WAS a friendship that kept its focus amid the challenges it endured over the last 15 years.
No doubt about it, the driving force behind Property Company of Friends, Inc. (PRO-FRIENDS) has remained steadfast in its commitment to help more hardworking Filipinos realize a lifelong dream of owning a quality yet affordable home they can truly call their own.
And as it celebrates its “crystal” year, the same group of friends, who were united by a common goal and passion in setting up PRO-FRIENDS, have committed to relentlessly pursue its mission to create more communities and transform more lives.
“The company started its operations in 1999 and was established by a group of passionate, dynamic individuals who espoused a common vision...Now, PRO-FRIENDS has become one of the fastest growing real estate developers in the country. It has definitely grown from being just a provider of low-cost housing developments to addressing the needs of the low to middleincome segments by focusing on estate developments,” PRO-FRIENDS’ Chairman Gerry Choa shared.
To date, PRO-FRIENDS has provided thousands of quality homes to the affordable market segment through its small pocket developments, and has expanded to the mid-market by diversifying into estate development.
“In early 2000, the company was able to establish its market niche in the Cavite region with Villa de Primarosa, its first-ever gated community project. Years later, the company opened Lancaster New City, its flagship project located in Imus, Cavite. The 1,000hectare subdivision is complete with a church, a school, a clubhouse and a commercial and BPO complex,” he said.
Such sheer determination, innovativeness and bullishness is what allowed the company to soar at great heights and carve its name in the industry which was previously dominated by giant industry players. With such accomplishment, PRO-FRIENDS has managed to create its own niche and at the same time, earn the respect and nod not only of its clients but of the entire property sector as well.
Innovations
To keep up with the fickle demands and fast-changing tastes of the local market, PROFRIENDS has put on board seasoned professionals and expert homebuilders that enabled the company to develop technologies
PRO-FRIENDS remains faithful to its promise
of creating communities
and transforming
lives
that have vastly improved not only the quality of its products, but also the efficiency of its operations and, consequently its financial position.
These people, according to Mr. Choa, has the ability to develop housing that meets the needs of the buyers, while at the same time remaining true to its advocacy of offering communities that transform lives.
“Our innovations are simple yet make a huge impact in the affordability of our products and our buyer’s accessibility to credit. We started when banks were reeling from the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis. Credit was not readily available to our buyers. So we designed a friendly financing scheme that was within the reach of our target residents,” he recalled.
“We also innovated on our construction technology, which is now on its eighth generation, the technology allows us to construct large numbers of houses in a highly efficient manner,” he added.
Such innovations have likewise allowed PRO-FRIENDS to offer its products at competitive rates relative to what is available in the market.
“We continue to innovate... we continuously look for valueadded features without having to drive up the costs and instead, generate savings we can pass on to our buyers. There is also innovation in simple things like the floor plans of the houses. Windows are sized generously and are laid out for maximum cross-ventilation resulting in cooler homes. Room layouts are space-optimized so that you can flush the bed to one side of the room and have generous space to accommodate the necessities of a busy life,” PROFRIENDS’ President Jocelyn Guzman explained.
Other innovations unique to a PRO-FRIENDS development included the linear parks and courtyards. These are the open spaces located at the back (for linear parks) or at the front of the houses (for courtyards). This configuration, according to Ms. Guzman, has helped develop neighborly relations within
But like any other business, things didn’t come that easy for PRO-FRIENDS. Before it was able to reap the benefits of implementing such innovations, which have helped the company become a prime mover in property development, PROFRIENDS also started out small, needing to compete with longestablished industry giants, which meant it had to battle it out with challenges.
“At several stages of our 15 years, we encountered scalability challenges. As we passed certain milestones in sales volume, we had to ensure that we retooled the organization to handle more and more home owners who placed their trust in PROFRIENDS. We continue to look at ways that we can improve our products and services considering the record growth levels we have encountered in the recent years,” Ms. Guzman stated.
Indeed, PRO-FRIENDS has since grown from being just a provider of low-cost housing developments. It has already expanded its reach in Iloilo in the Visayas through the Parc Regency Residences andMonticello Villas, which are two of the most well-known subdivisions in the region. The company also introduced its first venture into midrise segment, the Ilustrata Residences in Santolan, Quezon City.
“We at PRO-FRIENDS remain faithful to our promise of creating communities and transforming lives. We make sure that the products we offer on each of our community are quality yet affordable. We always put ourselves in our buyers shoes and with that, we believe, we are somehow able to know what they want. PROFRIENDS so far is able to produce more than 30,000 homes to Filipino families. This year, we are preparing to build over 10,000 more houses,” Mr. Choa added.
Social responsibility
PRO-FRIENDS, however, is highly aware that in order for the company to truly affect change and become an anchor of nation building, it needed to go beyond building homes. This is why PRO-FRIENDS is an active participant in several activities aimed at building a better community and brighter future for the Filipinos.
“Most of the company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities center on education and this is because we believe that educating the child is the best way to guarantee that we can transform the lives of not only our residents, but Filipinos in general,” PRO-FRIENDS’ Executive Vice President Augusto Leonardo Jr. noted.
“Last year we broke ground for two different high schools outside our developments. This year, being the culmination of our countdown to our 15th year, we started by having a benefit run participated in by employees and business partners, and it was also opened to the public,” Mr. Leonardo added.
The proceeds of this benefit run, according to him went to Alapan 1 Elementary School in Cavite, Nueva Victoria Elementary School in Mexico, Pampanga, and Bolilao Elementary School in Dumangas, Iloilo where the schools were provided with electronic learning facilities through the Knowledge Channel Foundation.
The company’s administration and homeowners in Iloilo also joined hands to organize a relief operation following the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon Yolanda in November last year. Relief goods gathered from the homeowners of Parc Regency Residences and Monticello Village were distributed to over 250 families in the severely devastated Brgy. Calaigang in San Rafael, Iloilo. Meanwhile, the Bingawan Cooperative in Bingawan, Iloilo is also part of PRO-FRIENDS’ CSR in partnership with the diocese of Bingawan.
“This project started way back, even when the company was still young. Bingawan used to be a very poor town in Iloilo. The company,through the diocese of the town, helped in encouraging people of Bingawan to participate in livelihood activities and later on, introduced them to possible business opportunities,” Mr. Leonardo said.
“From just a small group, the program encouraged the whole town. The cooperative, named St. Joseph theWorker’s Cooperative, was established as well for the town. Now, Bingawan is a striving town with livelihood opportunities,” he recalled.
And to celebrate its crystal year in the business, PROFRIENDS is further giving back to Filipinos with its tie-up withGMANetwork, wherein it gave away two house and lots through the network’s Kapuso Milyonaryo.
“We are also hosting an upcoming reality show where PRO-FRIENDS is also set to give away one house and lot to the winner. These give away prizes are intended to transform the lives of the recipients by having their own house which they can call their own,” he concluded.