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Wednesday, June 21, 2006
SM prepares for real estate boom for housing, tourism
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) foresees “a lot” of growth potential in the property sector and is positioning itself in the development of land for residential, condominium, commercial, leisure and tourism purposes.
SMIC, which operates shopping malls, organized the SM Investments Property Group to implement the conglomerate’s plan to “secure leadership” in real estate development.
“The organization of the property group is part of the company’s strategy to diversify its businesses and to capitalize on its strength in the mall and retail businesses,” said SMIC vice chairman Henry Sy Jr., who is also managing director of the property group.
“While remaining anchored in the retail and shopping mall businesses, we see a lot of growth potential in the property sector, which is recovering from the 1997 Asian crisis,” he said.
Commitment
“This opportunity is partly an offshoot of our commitment to create value in areas we develop, which, in turn, draws buyers who appreciate convenience, improved quality of life and value for money,” he added.
He said that as property development is an integral component of SM, “it makes sense to expand, to undertake other types of projects independent of the malls.”
SMIC is using its present landholdings for its real estate development pro-jects that target key market segments, including overseas Filipino workers, business process outsour-cing sector and the rising number of tourists.
It also plans to take advantage of its growing number of shopping malls, 25 to date, which may serve as anchor for its property ventures.
“The value of properties surrounding the malls always increase…so we would like to participate in that,” Sy said.
He cited the Mall of Asia at the SM Central Business Park, which sits on a reclaimed portion of Manila Bay.
Apart from the 386,000-square meter Mall of Asia, four multi-purpose buildings that are designed to cater to technology-based companies can be found at the business park.
SMIC is also using the same mall-anchored approach in real estate development at SM City in Sta. Mesa and SM City Bicutan.
For its long-term venture into leisure and tourism development, SMIC is implementing a project on a 5,700-hectare property in Hamilo Coast in Nasugbu, Batangas. (PR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 21, 2006 issue)
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