VIBO. In local parlance, the word means lively, full of life. And in effect, that’s what Vibo Place means to be, though its president, Gerardo V. Borromeo, says Vibo actually stands for the first syllables of his parents’ family names Flora Villacarlos and the late Benjamin Borromeo.
The place used to be called the Cebu Capitol Commercial Complex, a developed 2.2-hectare Borromeo property in the 1970s which saw the rise of Cebu Grand Hotel and The Apartelle, and a strip mall simply called the Cebu Capitol Commercial Complex which had the popular Gardenia Restaurant and Ballroom in the 1980s and Red Tomato in the early 2000s. With the rebranding of the whole property, that strip mall gave way to what is now known as the Axis Entertainment Avenue, a six building cluster type strip mall that affords manicured gardens and ample parking space for the clientele of its establishments: Starbucks, Suzukaze Japanese Restaurant, Pigafetta Italian Restaurant, Burger King, Ilaputi, Señor Kimchi LA Street Food, Birdseed all-day Breakfast Club and the offices of Nikon Cameras, Architectural Interior Source and Ricoh Copiers.
In the middle of the six-building cluster of Axis Entertainment is a paved courtyard with concrete benches at one end and a fountain at the other. The courtyard is open for the clientele of its locators to enjoy as well as open for special events like product launchings and other corporate or civic special gatherings. In fact, it was here where the entire complex, rebranded as “Vibo Place-Where You Want to Be” was launched a couple of months ago.
Borromeo, better known as Dindo, says he is actually a mechanical engineer who never practiced his profession. Instead, he had a furniture factory which he had to close when his father asked him to be with the family business which he now runs with his sister, Camille B. Suarez, and their children: his son Ian Martin and Camille’s sons Carlo Anton and Allen Andre Suarez. With this team, the whole 2.2 hectare will be completely developed in the near future with a three-tower residential-office space condominium complex plus the renovation of an existing building. Also in the pipeline for this team is a condominium nearer the heart of Cebu City which will cater to the economic income bracket.
Vibo Place is not just a lively place, it is as well, a place that stands for family togetherness.