Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Developer foresees growth, launches new subdivision
WITH its bullish outlook of Cebu’s real estate industry, Cebu-based property developer Commonwealth Estate Inc. (CEI) launched its new subdivision in Lapu-Lapu City.
“The market for quality housing is still growing in Cebu,” said Joseph Edward Obando, CEI assistant sales manager, during the launching of Collinwood subdivision last Feb. 21.
The subdivision sits on a 10-hectare property in Basak, Lapu-Lapu City, and will be developed in four phases. All phases, with a total of 500 houses and lots, are slated for completion within the next three years.
Phase one of the project will have 161 houses and lots, each of which will have floor area ranging from 55 square meters (sq. m.) to 190 sq. m.
Prices range from P1.4 million to P2.9 million per unit. The subdivision project is designed for the middle-income market.
Obando said that even before the launch, about 62 units have already been sold when CEI pre-launched the project in December last year.
Investment
Since houses and lots are perceived to be viable investments, he noted an increase among CEI’s “bulk buyers” or “investor buyers.”
“These are buyers who buy a maximum of five units. Some of them are previous buyers from our other real estates,” Obando told reporters.
He added that 40 percent of CEI’s buyers are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), 35 percent are local investors and 25 percent are Filipinos married to foreigners.
The concept of Collin-wood, whose houses are of Spanish architectural design, is patterned after a closely-knit community in the suburbs of the Mississippi area in the United States, said CEI managing director Stephen Charles Liu in a statement.
Subdivision amenities will include a multi-purpose hall, tennis court, basketball court and landscaped play areas, among others.
Commercial center
Obando said the façade of the subdivision will be developed into a commercial center.
Collinwood is CEI’s third development in Mactan Island and the company’s 12th project since it began in 1992. CEI has developed some 2,500 houses and lots, and condominium units, said Obando.
Two of CEI’s real estate projects in Mactan Island includes Villa del Rio and Brookfield subdivisions, which Obando said have already been sold out.
“Collinwood is the innovated version of these two subdivisions,” he added.
Meanwhile, Obando said CEI’s next project will include an upscale townhouse and condominium development dubbed 188 Sunflower Drive, which will have a land area of 3,500 sq. m. He added that it will be a 18-unit complex.
CEI’s other real estate projects are East Aurora Tower in Mabolo, Cebu City; Garden Bloom Acres in Consolacion; Puerto del Sol in Talisay City; and Acacia Place in Banawa, Cebu City. (MMM)
