Greenfield highlights value in masterplanned townships
From city condominium dwellings to suburban enclaves and even commercial and retail spaces, homebuyers and business locators are confronted with an array of options that it becomes necessary for them to be more discerning in where to pour their hard-earned money into.
“For most Filipinos, investment value is an unspoken consideration,” said Atty. Duane A.X. Santos, general manager of Greenfield Development Corp., one of the most experienced full-line real estate developers in the country.
“By unspoken, we mean that it is always something they keep at the back of their minds. When buying real estate, the question is always there if it is a home they can pass on to their families, if it is a piece of land they can dispose of in times of need,” he added.
“There are price indicators but Filipinos as property buyers largely operate on a sense of trust. We do not necessarily compute gains, but it’s more of a psychological or emotional benefit that we can hold on to a property and be assured of its lasting value, or live in a property that is not marked with fear of being uprooted. It’s all about establishing family roots and growing.”
According to Santos, Greenfield as a developer thinks in this manner very much like its buyers, so to speak. It is still pretty much a tightly run organization in the Campos conglomerate—one highly respected for its business acumen as well as philanthropic legacy in the Philippines.
Rather than being viewed as a liability, being a family-owned business can boast of advantages in terms of attention to detail and personal accountability to stakeholders. “The way we view our land developments is that we make choices as if it were our personal properties,” said Santos.
This spirit is captured in Greenfield’s current corporate marketing campaign, dubbed “Ours for Generation.” Majority of the company’s active developments are hinged on unlocking the massive potential of its own vast landholdings in key areas in Metro Manila and beyond. Rather than rid- ing on trends, Greenfield carefully draws up a masterplan that takes into consideration a highly sustainable future for its residents.
A prime example of this is the 400-hectare Greenfield City suburban township in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. Long before developers came into this locale south of Metro Manila, Greenfield could very well be credited for jumpstarting interest in this area with its very own investments in road infrastructure.
It allotted land and undertook creation of the Greenfield/ Unilab exit on the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), as well as the Cabuyao and Southwoods exits in the early 1990s. By 2006, accessibility was even more enhanced with the opening of the Eton-Greenfield Interchange.
Greenfield City is dubbed a “city within a park” for its inimitable atmosphere of being right in the middle of nature. “Most developments build parks in their projects or subdivisions,” Santos said. “At Greenfield, we are building a city within a park.”
In Metro Manila, Greenfield is pioneering a different kind of city lifestyle at Greenfield District—a “smart” urban center digitally interconnected with a fiber- optic backbone that delivers all the benefits that high-speed internet brings.
Having once been known as the landmark EDSA Central retail center and transport hub along the major EDSA thoroughfare, Greenfield retooled the vision for its 15- hectare landholding surrounding EDSA Central and expanded the development to include residential and mixed-use commercial and office towers.
The resulting masterplan has been changing the Mandaluyong landscape with modern high-rise buildings enhanced by generous landscaping and a pedestrian-oriented traffic flow. In 2009, Greenfield launched its flagship condominium project Twin Oaks Place, which exemplifies the future-ready lifestyle of Greenfield District with its integrated fiber-optic connectivity that enables features such as smartphone-controlled home automation, among many others.
Zitan, meanwhile, is a transitoriented development closely linked to the Shaw Boulevard station of the Mass Rail Transit ( MRT) system along EDSA, offering modern city dwellers with a convenient lifestyle.
This lifestyle extends to Greenfield District’s public and civic spaces, which is the venue for distinctive activities such as the now-renowned Greenfield Weekend Market of unique food and retail finds. Completing the masterplan are upcoming office developments such as Greenfield District’s first BPO (business process outsourcing) high-rise tower.