THE real estate arm of the Gaisano Grand group pledged to invest at least P6 billion for housing projects and tourism establishments over the next three years in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Tina Pestaño, vice president for sales and marketing in Grand Land Inc., said part of the company’s expansion will be the launch of two condotels in the town of Oslob and in Mactan Island, as well as a mass housing project in the town of Minglanilla.
Management’s plan, she said, is to launch two to three projects in a year amounting to at least P1 billion each. She said that the retail arm, Gaisano Grand, is also as aggressive with its expansion, targeting to open at least three malls in the Visayas and Mindanao every year.
“We are bullish about the market, and aggressive in our expansions,” Pestaño told reporters, adding that the P6-billion capital expenditure budget until 2020 is a “conservative” one.
Last June, Grand Land marked its first expansion in Davao City with the launching of Amani Grand, which is set to rise in a 2.8-hectare area in Buhangin with over a thousand condominium units when completed. Within the same area, the developer has six hectares more of unutilized space that can be turned into mixed-use areas.
Who’s buying?
For its expansions, Pestaño attributed the company’s dynamism to a strong demand for condominiums from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as well as foreign buyers. Grand Land is slated to hold international property roadshows to market its projects to foreign investors.
“Our OFWs, when they finish their house, they buy a car. After that, they buy or they invest in a condo,” Pestaño said.
Among local buyers, Grand Land’s easy-move-in or rent-to-own scheme for its condominium units in Grand Residences along Gov. Cuenco Avenue in Cebu City also boosts company sales, she said.
“We are very strong in rentals. We have an easy-move-in program, where you only put five percent down payment and you can pay just P19,000 to P20,000 per month for the next two years before this is taken out to banks or PAGIBIG (Home Development Mutual Fund),” said Pestaño.
Traffic in Cebu calls for work-live-play developments, too, the official noted. Grand Land’s future projects are also anchored on millennials whose demand for convenience plays a huge role in their buying decisions.
According to property portal Lamudi, the 27 million millennials in the Philippines, who make up more than 50 percent of the country’s workers, are a rising market for real estate.