LISTED developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is acquiring the Abaca Resort Mactan in the island tourist hub of Cebu as it looks to expand its resort development business.
The developer announced it will expand the 4,328-square-meter all-suite luxury resort located in the Punta Engano area of Mactan Island to 100 rooms from the current nine. The expansion is set to be completed by 2023.
The Cebu-based company also signed a hotel management agreement with The Abaca Group, owner of the resort and a chain of top-end Cebu restaurants.
The deal will ensure the Abaca brand will continue in the new Abaca Resort Mactan.
“CLI and The Abaca Group will create world-class synergies that will allow us to maximize tourism opportunities in Cebu, a booming growth area supported by large-scale infrastructure development projects such as Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA),” said CLI chief executive officer Jose Soberano III in a statement disclosed to the stock exchange Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019.
The Abaca resort, boasting to have the highest ratings from global travel experts, is one of the few remaining prime properties in the area with an attractive oceanfront and just a short drive from the MCIA.
Confidence in Cebu’s tourism
The Abaca Group founder Jason Hyatt said his company is keen on supporting the tourism growth in Cebu.
“With Cebu being our adopted home, it has always been our vision to contribute to the growth of Cebu’s tourism and hospitality industry on a much larger scale, especially the Abaca Resort and Hotel brand,” he said.
“We have been approached by several developers to expand the brand, but the thoughtfulness and commitment to quality that Cebu Landmasters brought to the table was undeniable and made the decision easy.”
“Having this unique partnership and opportunity to manage a premier property developed by the region’s premier developer is a significant step towards our vision of breaking out as the country’s top homegrown luxury hotel group,” Hyatt noted.
CLI recently tapped The Abaca Group to manage the food and beverage requirement of Citadines Cebu City, CLI’s first venture in the hospitality sector.
Soberano said a reputable foreign architect will be tapped to design and create the masterplan of the redevelopment of the luxury resort.
The two firms envision an iconic and sustainable resort tower that will showcase Mactan’s very first Sky Villas.
Abaca Resort will close its doors in February 2020 to give way to its ambitious redevelopment.
CLI, which was named by PropertyGuru as the country’s best developer in 2019, also recently acquired the two-hectare Lowaii Marine Cebu Resort located at the southern side of Mactan.