|
IT was a relaxed and buoyant Fil-Estate chairman
Robert John Sobrepeña who we met up with at the Lobby Lounge of the
Makati Shangri-La. And the guy sitting alongside him doing battle
over a plate of dim sum with chopsticks—LIM Advisers chairman and
chief investment officer George Long—obviously had a part in
Sobrepena’s bullish demeanor.
For Fil-Estate Urban Development
Corp. (Urban) has just signed an Omnibus Agreement with the Hong
Kong-based investment group LIM Advisers Inc. for the completion of
five existing vertical projects being developed in high visibility
locations.
The agreement involving a
US$12.5-million revolving credit facility serves as a springboard
for the first batch of five projects which scheduled to be fully
completed from 18 months to 3 years, are all fully funded, and with
complete individual titles and permits.
Fil-Estate supremo Sobrepeña
expressed optimism on the fast implementation of the projects now
that the construction loan was in place. He added: “We are also
looking at a project investment that would involve Fil-Estate’s
other tracts of land like Twin Lakes in Tagaytay and Harbor Town.
The important thing right now is that we have funds available for
construction of the first batch of projects. We expect to get more
investment from local partners as well.”
The five projects, which Sobrepeña
described as “socially driven,” comprise both tourism-oriented
and mass-housing developments. They include Cathedral Heights
Townhomes in Quezon City has 90 1-BR to 3-BR units of 90 to 340-sqm
floor areas each, and Sto. Domingo Clusters also in Quezon City,
which is a 5-story structure of 205 units for the Pag-Ibig members.
Other projects in the initial
quintet are Boracay Villas which constitutes two buildings with 26
units each, strategically located beside the Fairways and Bluewater
Golf Course in Boracay Island, Camp John Hay Forest Cabins (besides
the entrance to the US Ambassador’s official residence in the
summer capital) which includes 16 cabins located at the Scout Hill
area and Camp John Hay Suites which is a condotel project beside the
existing Camp John Hay Manor Hotel (with the revival of the famous
19th Tee Diner being run by chef extraordinaire Billy King).
The location overlooks the newly
renovated Camp John Hay Golf Course which was redesigned by golfing
legend Jack Nicklaus’ Golden Bear Designs.
Urban is a Fil-Estate subsidiary
recently formed to undertake the completion of several vertical
projects in high visibility locations. Urban will initially
concentrate on the existing five vertical projects and then move on
to other projects after completion of the first batch.
It is headed by Rafael Perez de
Tagle Jr., a former investment banker from Bancom Development Corp.
He has been in the real-estate industry for over 20 years, and with
the Metro Rail Transit project since 1995. Architect Lee Garcia is
the VP in charge of project development, while project management is
handled by Jaime Cacho of Interpo Inc.
This facility is covered by
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas approval for four of the five projects,
being tourism-oriented or of a mass housing nature.
The BSP seal of approval gives
Urban the go-ahead to source dollars from the local banking sector
rather than the gray market.
Email: bizzfizz_98@yahoo.com.
|
