IN three to five years, the city landscape of Mati in Davao Oriental will never be the same as Maer Summit Properties, Inc. will bring to life the first innovative and sustainable mixed-use development in Mati – Cerati.
The homegrown developer, a member of Maer Summit Group, had its groundbreaking ceremony last December 8 for the soon-to-rise Cerati, a 52-hectare mixed-use development project in the heart of Dahican, Mati City.
Maer partnered with Green Antz Builders to use sustainable materials in building Cerati and make it people and planet-centered. The property will have residential, commercial, and tourism components.
Maer Summit Properties chief operating officer (COO) Gene Arcena said the project will be laid out in four phases in three to five years.
“We target that within 2023, maybe third or fourth quarter, we will have our grand launching,” he said.
For the residential component of the project, Arcena said, it will have around 2,000 housing units.
Maer Board of Director Rhoda Cua shared they chose Mati as their investment destination because of its booming economy and tourism climate.
“It is a booming city and we have our mangrove area here, we also want to support the ecotourism initiative of the local government. It is also the center of trade in Davao Oriental. Since Davao City is already somehow saturated. There are a lot of opportunities that we can tap here,” she said.
Arcena added that they project over P3 billion worth of investment opportunities that can be potentially generated from this project.
“People are coming here because of tourism and trade,” he said.
Welcome development
As Cerati supports the green initiatives of the local government unit, Mati City Vice Mayor Enzo Rabat lauded the project for using eco-friendly technology in building the project.
“This project incorporates ecotourism and sustainability in their design as well as in their activities. It is the first in Mati that uses plastic-infused hollow blocks (Ecobricks),” the young leader said adding sustainability and environmental awareness should be at the forefront of all developments in today’s world. “Hopefully, it will set the trend.”
Cerati green initiatives can be seen in all its master plans especially the vision of putting up a mangrove educational center and other ecotourism activity areas.
Rabat also underscored that based on the city’s local shelter plan until 2031, the project’s residential component is seen to solve 30 percent of the projected housing backlog in the city in 2022 at 16,000 housing units.
“Public and private initiatives are really needed to solve housing problems,” he said.
Davao Oriental Second District Representative Cheeno D. Almario, for his part, said the projects come timely as lawmakers have been looking for ways to reuse plastics and wastes into better solutions.
“This would be something I’ll be very proud to present to my colleagues as well. This is something we can replicate in the other parts of the Philippines and eventually we can call ourselves the pioneers of this very brand new movement nationwide,” he said.
Almario emphasized the importance of the environment in pushing for economic progress, thus if needed national legislation to support these initiatives, he said, he is willing to create one.
“This is something Matianians can be proud of soon. The project will have bigger roads, and better amenities which you don’t always see in economic housing projects. We want them to be proud and have decent homes,” the young lawmaker shared.
The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by Maer Summit Properties owner Dino Suelto, consultant Ariel Dela Cruz, former Davao Oriental Second District congressman Joel “Mayo” Almario, and Green Antz CEO Engr. Rommel Benig. ASP