AFTER Oakridge Business Park in Mandaue City, the family behind clothing brand Penshoppe, among many other business interests, is keen on expanding its property ventures.
In an interview on Friday, Edmun Liu, chief executive officer of Oakridge Realty Development Corp., said the family has “strategically located” properties in Cebu and some other parts of the country that it is willing to develop.
“It is definitely on the drawing board to convert some of these other properties that the family has in our portfolio and make them more productive,” Liu said at the opening of the new 12-story Oakridge IT Center 2 (OITC 2), the latest addition to the growing commercial property inventory of Oakridge Realty.
The executive, however, did not elaborate on the specifics of their future projects. Oakridge Business Park, formerly Golden ABC’s factory (where such brands as Penshoppe, Oxygen, Forme, Memo, Regatta, and Tyler were made) is the family’s first venture into property development, specifically commercial realty.
With OITC 2’s completion, Oakridge Business Park’s total leasable space has increased to some 24,000 square meters.
The building forms part of a three-year development plan within the business park, which includes another 12-story building (OITC 3) and an atrium.
Space for SMEs
The anchor retail tenant for OITC 2 will be Watson’s, which will open on the ground floor in Febuary 2018. In addition, the PEZA-registered building has also become a site for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that require smaller cut spaces from 47 square meters to a full-floor plate area of 1,700 square meters.
Other office buildings in Oakridge Business Park are the Oakridge IT Center 1 and Block 88.
The Oakridge IT Center 1 has over 7,500 sq.m. of leasing space while the five-floor Block 88 has over 10,000 sq.m. of office and commercial space. The business park also houses two event venues—the Oakridge Pavilion, a 1,200-sq.m. facility, and the 400-seater Oakridge Horizons at the top of Block 88.
The Liu family in Cebu started in the lumber business, but eventually diversified into garments, health care, printing, and property development. (JOG)