DoubleDragon building industrial hubs

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has acquired a 6.2-hectare lot in Luisita Industrial Park in Tarlac for the first of what it envisions to be a chain of industrial hubs that will add 100,000 square meters to its leasing portfolio by 2020.

The Tarlac industrial estate project will make available 32,000 sqms of industrial space. The first phase, involving the first 10,000 sqms, is scheduled to start construction this month. While the entire project is expected to be completed by 2020, the first phase will be finished by the end of this year, company chair and CEO Edgar Sia II told reporters at the sidelines of DoubleDragon’s stockholders meeting last week.

“We ventured in industrial leasing because our group is quite familiar about this line because the fast-food industry, to support its branch network, leases from other people warehouses for its commissary operations, cold storages and logistics distribution centers in different parts of the country,” Sia said.

Before growing DoubleDragon with partner Jollibee Foods Corp. chair and founder Tony Tancaktiong, Sia had built a fortune out of food retailing. He founded grilled chicken restaurant chain Mang Inasalwhich he later sold to Jollibee.

DoubleDragon formed a new unit, Central Hub Industrial Centers Inc., to be its industrial leasing arm. This is envisioned to be a branded standardized multi-use warehouse chain suitable for commissaries, cold storage and logistic centers. The group intends to be a market leader in this segment in the near term.

For the first 100,000 square meters of its industrial leasing portfolio, DoubeDragon is looking to build on two sites in south Luzon, two in north Luzon, two in Visayas and two in Mindanao. The company has so far secured the site in Tarlac.

For the Tarlac project, Sia said DoubleDragon acquired the land, which is already classified as an industrial park. For other sites which are not industrial parks, he said the company might have to apply for registration at the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to build on its own industrial estate.

“We see CentralHub to be the first branded modern industrial centers chain in the Philippines. Just like Mang Inasal, CityMall, and Hotel101, all CentralHubs will all look the same and will be positioned in strategic parts around the country,” Sia said.

DoubleDragon believes that industrial leasing business would significantly grow in the next few years alongside the thriving retail and consumer industry.