AFTER the groundbreaking of their joint venture with the PJ Lhuillier Group, MSY Holdings Corp. held a topping-off ceremony for their first office building at the Cebu Business Park yesterday.
The MSY Tower 1 occupies a 1,400-square-meter lot along Pescadores Road and is expected to house retail shops on the ground floor, four parking levels, seven floors of office space and residential units on the top two floors.
MSY vice chairman Carlos Yeung said they have enlisted the services of Jones Lang to manage the property and find potential tenants. None of the units are for sale but they will be available for lease.
They hope to attract the booming business process management (BPM) industry. The one- and two-bedroom residential units can house top executives of outsourcing companies.
Plans
The 14-level building is the company's first, after establishing a memorial park and subdivision in Lapu-Lapu City.
Yeung said there are plans for more office towers, but MSY wants to focus on completing its current projects.
MSY is developing a health and wellness resort in northern Cebu and a second subdivision in Talisay City.
Yeung admitted, though, that they are also looking for other properties that they can develop, saying Cebu is a big market for development.
Having chosen Cebu to be his home, Yeung said that he invites his friends in Hong Kong to invest in Cebu and assured of their interest in doing so, especially in real estate.
Aside from their projects at MSY, Yeung is also busy with Diamond Hiland Inc., developers of 128 Nivel Hills in partnership with the PJ Lhuillier Group.
Design
At the groundbreaking ceremonies yesterday, Yeung narrated that he and Lhuillier acquired the lot, which was the site of the old Casino Filipino.
It took a few more years for them to agree to the design, saying many firms submitted designs but these were rejected because these lacked the "wow" factor.
When Australian firm Chrome submitted its design of two towers and a podium resembling shifting discs, Yeung said his wife, Mariquita, uttered the word "wow" so they approved it.
Jean Henri Lhuillier, son of Ambassador Philippe Lhuillier, told guests that building an iconic landmark for Cebu has been a long-time dream of his father.
The ambassador and Yeung have been friends since they were in their teens and acquired the property together.
Yeung said they agreed to create a corporation to develop the project.
Site development will for the first tower will soon start with the demolition of the old Casino.