FROM CATHOLIC DORMITORY TO INTEGRATED COMMERCIAL CENTER
By 2021, the building on P. Gomez St., Cebu City known as Patria de Cebu will become a Rome-inspired center
Proposed development will have two buldings: one with six stories, the other with 14 housing retail shops and offices
A pebbled pedestrian walkway. A piazza with a fountain. A lovely promenade garden.
By the summer of 2021, these Rome-inspired features will connect a Catholic church steeped in history to a planned integrated retail, office and hotel structure.
These will also serve as the centerpiece of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Christianity in Cebu.
Listed property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) promises to blend heritage with contemporary design through the Patria de Cebu redevelopment project.
Patria de Cebu, a 6,670-square-meter rundown Catholic Church-owned building across the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral in downtown Cebu City, currently hosts the offices of the Archdiocese of Cebu’s various commissions and a hostel or dormitory for visiting clergy, lay people and pilgrims.
Its redevelopment is expected to catalyze the revitalization of adjacent properties and reinvent the urban fabric of Cebu City’s waterfront area.
CLI, which was proclaimed the winner among five bidders in a closed bidding conducted by the Church, has committed to transform the area into a heritage site with a commercial component.
“One of the more important elements that gave us the (Church’s) nod, aside from the financial package that we proposed, is the heritage content. Even the exterior look, the roofing of what we came up with is consistent with that of the Cathedral,” said Jose Soberano III, CLI president and chief executive officer.
More than the financial returns that the project is expected to bring, Soberano said CLI simply wants to help the Church and contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the cultural heritage of downtown Cebu.
The project will kick off the redevelopment of the Catholic Church’s properties surrounding the Cathedral, the first Christian church built in Cebu.
The original structure was built near Fort San Pedro, but the church was later reconstructed and elevated to a cathedral called the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Vitales. The Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Soberano said the Church has asked CLI to help draw up a master development plan for the rest of its properties near the Cathedral, including the Cathedral Museum of Cebu.
Heritage trail
When completed, the entire area will form part of a heritage trail in the downtown area.
The site is located a block away from the Basilica del Santo Niño, the second Christian church built in Cebu which was constructed to mark the site where the image of the Holy Child Jesus was found.
About two blocks away is the pre-war Gotiaoco Building, Cebu City’s first four-story airconditioned office building which has been restored and transformed into a Filipino-Chinese museum.
Soberano also sits in the board of the Sugbo Chinese Heritage Museum Foundation Inc., which is undertaking the restoration of the Gotiaoco Building.
About three blocks away in the opposite direction is the Parian District, site of the Heritage of Cebu Monument by sculptor Eduardo Castrillo, the Museo de Parian ( Jesuit House of 1730) and Casa Gorordo (home of the first Filipino bishop of Cebu), among others.
CLI is poised to spend about P1 billion for the construction of the integrated retail, office and hotel structure to replace the rundown structure of Patria de Cebu.
The company has given the Archdiocese of Cebu an initial P50 million to cover the rent for the property in the next four years, while construction is ongoing.
Under a 40-year lease agreement signed with the Archdiocese on Oct. 29, CLI will pay a monthly rent of about P1.2 million upon completion of the project. The amount will increase by two percent every two years and by 10 percent every 10 years.
After 40 years, CLI will turn over the project to the Archdiocese. But CLI will also have the right of first refusal to continue with the lease.
“But of course that would depend on whether the Church would like to continue leasing it out. Because the Church might just want to recover it and convert it to something else,” Soberano said.
Development plan
He said they have started working on the regulatory permits for the project. Current occupants of Patria have until the end of December 2018 to move out, after which the building would be demolished and work on the new structure would begin.
The property is small, about twice the size of the Senior Citizen’s Park.
CLI will construct two buildings that will be connected. One will have six stories, the other will have 14. The structure will contain a hotel, office spaces and retail space, including a supermarket.
“We could overbuild. But as mentioned, the financial return is not the main consideration for us when we entered this deal. We would just like to help the Church,” Soberano said.
The hotel, envisioned to be a business hotel, will have 160 rooms and a grand ballroom, among others.
“This time, we will run this. This is something that we are going to devote a lot of time to,” Soberano said. CLI has partnered with the Radisson Hotel Group for a Radisson Red in Mandaue City, the first in the country, and The Ascott Limited for its serviced residences.
The Patria hotel is seen to address the need for a venue for the reception for church events, such as weddings, baptisms, anniversaries and others.
Churchgoers will just have to cross to the Patria for their parties.
The roadway between the church and Patria would be transformed into a pebbled pedestrian walkway that would be closed to vehicular traffic.
The church grounds, currently used for parking and a garden, would be devoted entirely to a promenade garden.
A two-level parking area that could accommodate more than 300 vehicles would be made available at the basement of the new Patria building.
From the church, the promenade garden and the pebbled walkway would lead to the piazza with the fountain, “where people can throw their coins to ask for good luck and blessings.”
The target is to complete the grounds portion by March or April 2021, in time for the 500th anniversary of Christianity in Cebu.
“There’s going to be a lot of open space, at least 40 percent of the land area,” Soberano said.
An entire floor of the new Patria building, meanwhile, will house the Chancery’s new offices, rent-free.
Soberano assured that Patria’s history, especially the Ave Maria blocks, will not be forgotten.
“We will have a permanent marker there to show the history of the place. This has been discussed with the Archdiocese and with our planners,” he added.
This time, we will run this. This is something that we are going to devote a lot of time to. JOSE SOBERANO III Cebu Landmasters Inc. president & CEO