Builders & Movers
From a buyer’s perspective
By Theresa S. SamaniegoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
Madrigal-Bayot Development Corp. (MBDC) will try to be a one-project-at-a-time developer to better serve and satisfy needs and wants of buyers.
Francisco Madrigal Bayot Jr. candidly admitted that he never saw himself as one who would go into property development.
Bayot thought that his “unforgiving standard for equivalence and his intolerance for the good enough” would not bode well with the real estate business.
But the countless horror stories that have reached him about the varied marketing and selling schemes that some real estate developers employ, have driven him to do what he previously thought was unthinkable: join the trade and contribute to addressing what he dubbed as “unsatisfied needs and wants” of Filipino homebuyers.
Very sad state of buyers
Bayot recalled how a golf buddy described the “very sad state of buyers who are shortchanged because of substandard materials used in the units they bought or the delay in the issuance of the Condominium Certificates of Title.”
“I was listening intently knowing there was truth to it, so there and then I made a decision to develop my property across the Wack Wack golf course,” he said.
Bayot—whose family is well-known in shipping, mining, cement, banking and real estate construction and whose grandfather, Vicente Madrigal, was a pioneer in the industrialization of the Philippines—was actually referring to a piece of property located across the 110-ha Wack Wack Golf Course and Country Club that he inherited from his parents.
This same property in Mandaluyong City was previously besieged by prominent condominium developers with offers to either buy the property or to go into joint venture with him.
Now, it is the site for the 32-story The Address at Wack Wack, which is being developed by Bayot’s property firm, Madrigal Bayot Development Corp. The company expects to top off the building soon.
Gargantuan task
Although Bayot was well aware of the gargantuan task that awaits him, he never faltered for he simply believed that he could offer the market something really different and better.
“I saw a different market when I visualized it from the buyer’s perspective. And from that vantage point I saw windows of opportunity to address the unsatisfied needs and wants of a niche market, not as a purchaser-trader who buys cheap and sells dear, but as an honest-to-goodness developer who ingeniously creates and adds value to the product to the delight of the buyers,” Bayot explained.
With the help of his son, Paco, Bayot put up a team to conceptualize a product within the capability of the identified target market to buy. The said team was also tasked to focus on the target market’s needs and wants and most especially what they really and actually use considering a prudent time zone.
“This way, the purchasing peso of the buyer is guaranteed to be used to his best interest and satisfaction, absolutely without waste. A price-driven costing concept was used to guide the crafting of the marketing mix,” Bayot explained.
The Address at Wack Wack has since then started to take form and now literally and figuratively stand on a solid bedrock foundation.
“Wack Wack is favored with natural bedrock foundation, a very safe distance from the earthquake fault lines and a flood-free location,” Bayot related.
“Also at The Address at Wack Wack you and your family are close to everywhere and everything because you are in the center of Metro Manila,” Bayot added.
Reasonable selling price
Future residents of The Address at Wack Wack can also look forward to receiving something better than what they were promised and more than what they paid for.
“The peso a developer spends for a project is in truth the peso of the buyer. Therefore, a developer must be conscientious in spending it to secure the best value for the buyer. A developer with the mentality of a buyer will not only provide a fair and reasonable selling price but will endeavor to reduce to the minimum the cost of using and maintaining the unit in the years to come,” he explained.
According to Bayot, The Address at Wack Wack will be using LED lighting bulbs on all common areas and hallways, while its interior walls will be made of “shotcrete” which, Bayot said was more durable and can provide the highest degree of safety and privacy for each unit.
Several air wells will be provided on every floor for maximum circulation of fresh and clean air, while 110 CCTV cameras will be installed as recommended by the safety and security consultant.
In closing, Bayot said that The Address at Wack Wack will be to him a constant reminder of why he decided to be a builder.
“I will never forget what and why I decided to be a developer. Moreover, let us not forget that there are greater things in life than wealth…like honor and integrity. Those are principles I learned from my parents and grandfather together with the properties I have inherited and I hope my children will pass them on,” he concluded.
First posted 12:16 am | Saturday, August 25th, 201
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Tags: Francisco madrigal bayot jr. , property , The Address at Wack Wack
