Thursday, November 29, 2007 Condo, hotel to rise in Lapu-Lapu
THE Gokongwei-led Robinsons Savings Bank (RSB) has embarked on a new financing scheme that is meant to attract potential buyers to its first major condominium venture in Cebu.
Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the real estate development arm of the Gokongwei Group, is set to build over 800 high-end condominium units and a mixed-use facility called AmiSa.
“The market (for real estate) is a function of affordability. If financing is cheap and easy, the market will be there,” said Joaquin Ng IV, RLC assistant vice president for mortgage and buyer financing.
He said optimism in the “robust” condominium market and tourism industry in Cebu has prompted the company to introduce “Super Easy Home Fixed Installment” (Super Easy), a new financing scheme of RLC and RSB.
“It’s the first financing tie-up that has made the transition from developer to the bank super easy,” Ng said.
Approval
Home buyers who want to avail themselves of the Super Easy financing scheme have to be approved by the RSB, Ng said in an interview with reporters at the Cebu Midtown Hotel yesterday.
He said there is only one amortization payment from equity build-up stage to bank loan under the scheme.
“This means buyers will pay exactly the same monthly installment from start to finish. That makes it more convenient for them,” he added.
He explained there are two stages under the financing scheme. First, the equity is built up with RLC for the first year at zero interest for 12 monthly installments. Second, the balance is automatically taken out by RSB with the buyer having the option to get a 10-year or 15-year loan term.
“Eventually, it balances off the monthly installment with the developer and payment of bank loans, so that buyers (will) only pay the same amount every month until the end of the (loan) term,” said Ng.
Buyers can pay the equity in full, though, he said.
“If they do, the lump sum payment will automatically be deducted from the balance (which would) lower the monthly installment,” he added.
Ng is optimistic that RSB’s new investment plan will be a hit among potential buyers as they no longer have to worry about lump sum down payments or escalating monthly amortization.
“The only question they (buyers) need to answer is: ‘Is the monthly payment within their budget?’” he said.
Last Nov. 17, RLC launched the multi-million peso five-star condominium-resort AmiSa, its the first entry level high-end mixed-use facility composed of condominiums, hotel and an entertainment center. The project will rise in Punta Engaño, Lapu-Lapu City.
Foreign target
“RLC has raised the bar in providing good investments for local clients,” said John Reyna, company assistant vice president for leisure and retirement.
He said the AmiSa project targets mainly the foreign market-Koreans and Japanese- and locals aged 35 to 60 years old or the “young adult sector.”
By the second quarter of next year, RLC will start the phase one development of AmiSa, which involves the construction of the first of the six-tower condominium structures.
Earlier, RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said the six towers that will be built by the company will supply an additional of 800 upscale, seaside condominium units, and a five-star resort that will offer 200 to 300 rooms.
The hotel will be built in one or two years, depending on market developments and the company’s talks with international hotel/resort management chains.
Reyna said RLC is in now on the look-out for an international resort chain operator that is famous to its target market segment.
Since AmiSa was opened to pre-selling, which started after its launching, Ng said the company has been getting plenty of inquiries, mostly from locals.
A single condominium unit at AmiSa is priced between P2.8 million and P4.8 million.
RLC is among the most profitable business of JG Summit Holdings Inc., with its 18 malls, 23 residential subdivisions, 22 residential condominiums, six office buildings and three hotels.
In Cebu, the Gokongwei Group operates one mall, the Robinsons shopping mall in Fuente Osmeña, the Midtown Hotel, and the Blue Coast subdivision in Mactan. (MMM)
