LOCAL developer M. Montesclaros Development Corp. (MMDC) has launched its maiden project, which will see the rise of a condo and a hotel in Cebu City’s uptown area.

“We are now focusing on Cebu,” said engineer Fritz Canono, chief operating officer at MMDC, owned by the Montesclaros family of Cebu.

The company is investing some P4 billion to build the two-tower mixed-use project named Double M Towers, eyed to be completed in five years.

The first tower is a 57-story condominium project and the second tower is a 25-story hotel with 125 rooms and a retail and commercial components on the first nine floors.

Both the hotel and the commercial podium are targeted to be completed in three years, Canono said, in an interview at the ground breaking of the project on B. Rodriguez St., Cebu City Friday, Nov. 8, 2019.

Canono said the nine-story will house a mall, commercial spaces and business process management companies.

The condo, designed to have 1,206 units, will be finished in five years.

Projects next year

Canono said MMDC is looking to launch three new projects next year, as it aims to expand in Cebu’s property development business.

The company is allotting some P1 billion for the upcoming “pocket-sized” projects, which are all located in Cebu City.

MMDC is the real estate arm of M. Montesclaros Holdings, whose main business interest is in construction and agriculture.

Real estate market

In a recent research note, property consultancy firm Santos Knight Frank reported the residential market in Metro Cebu had sustained its momentum with an average monthly take-up of 12 units per month in the first half of 2019.

The overall absorption rate remained healthy above 90 percent, the realtor said.

“Demand was mostly comprised of investors who were after capital appreciation and high lease yields driven by the expanding business process management industry and booming tourism sector,” Santos Knight said.

The real estate agency also said that middle income and affordable projects are mostly concentrated in Cebu City.