Vista Land to become major mixed use player by 2020

Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. aims to become a major mixed use player by 2020, its founder and chairman Manuel Villar said.

“You will see a different Vista Land going forward. Our goal is to transform this housing developer into an integrated mixed use developer,” Villar said.

To achieve this, he said, Vista Land will grow its core residential and leasing segments.

The company’s topline and bottomline are expected to grow by 12 to 15 percent this year, driven by a double digit growth in its core residential business. Its rapidly growing leasing business will grow at a more rapid pace of 22 percent.

Villar’s optimism is hinged on the expected reverse migration to areas outside Metro Manila as the capital region becomes more and more congested with the traffic and rapidly growing urban density.

Under this reverse migration phenomenon, Villar said millenials would eventually move out of Metro Manila to look for bigger but more affordable homes.

“We are now the biggest property developer outside Metro Manila, so it benefits us that government policy is moving towards the countryside,” he said.

However, because customers are now more discriminating, they want areas that will require better service which is why Vista Land is putting up more malls and retail outlets.

Vista Land’s malls and office buildings are now being rolled out—particularly in areas where the company has already developed healthy communities alongside the continued expansion of its residential projects around the country.

At present, the company has 72 commercial assets consisting of 22 malls, seven office buildings and 50 community malls and other retail formats.

“Our malls alone will be increased to 60 in three years,” said Villar who explained that their malls not only generate recurring income but also serve the needs of the residents of Vista Land’s residential projects.

Aside from malls, Vista Land is also looking to generate more recurring earnings from its tourism-related businesses which include Crosswinds in Tagaytay and a newly-acquired small resort in Boracay.

“We will be opening six new hotels in three years. These will be a combination of our own Hotel Mella brand and international hotel brands and will be located in Boracay, Tagaytay, Balanga in Bataan, Cebu and Vista Alabang in Daang Hari,” said Villar.

The two hotels will open in the first quarter of 2018.

He said most of the hotels would have around 150 rooms although Costa Vista Boracay would have 300 rooms. The project is located at the upscale portion of Boracay, between Shangri-La and Movenpick resorts.

Vista Land recently tapped the domestic retail bond market with its P5 billion retail bond offering due 2024 and 2027. Proceeds from the issue would be used for construction of commercial assets and for general corporate purposes.

The company intends to focus on the development of Communicities, an integrated urban development which will have lifestyle retail, prime office space, university town, healthcare, themed residential developments and leisure components.