Tan-Sia property firm ventures into Metro Manila market

DoubleDragon Properties Corp., a property venture of fast food magnates Tony Tan Caktiong and Edgar “Injap” Sia II, is breaking into Metro Manila’s competitive property market by bringing P1.52 billion worth of residential inventory in a skyscraper rising beside the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue.

W.H. Taft Residences, DoubleDragon’s first offering in Metro Manila, is a 30-story residential condominium that will have 562 “education-inspired” units, said Sia, who is the company chairman and CEO.

It will rise on a 1,200-square-meter lot right beside the main gate of DLSU and will have a back access to the campus.

This also boosts DoubleDragon’s visibility in the metropolis especially as the company plans to debut on the Philippine Stock Exchange soon. The initial public offering may happen by the third quarter of this year, Sia said.

Being a relatively new player in the property market especially in Metro Manila, Sia said DoubleDragon was picky on its projects and it preferred those that required shorter completion period. The company has committed to turn over to buyers residential units in W.H. Taft Residences by the fourth quarter of 2014.

“Other major property developers are also constructing in the area but the location of WH Taft Residences is far more superior, plus the completion date of WH Taft Residences is already next year, compared to the big players. The others are still in the substructure phase and turnover will be two to three years later,” Sia said in an e-mail.

Sia said 64 percent of this project was already taken up as of end-February. “We just relaunched it. We target to sell the remaining 36 percent, or 198 units, before the project is completed,” he said.

The residential units have floor areas ranging from 15.5 to 35 square meters. They sell for P98,000 and P100,000 per sqm.

The ground and second floors of the building will have commercial retail areas for lease.

DoubleDragon’s earlier projects and landholdings were in Iloilo and Roxas.

“DoubleDragon Properties will continue looking at acquiring existing projects or property companies that will accelerate its growth. It aims to create prime retail sites not just for the Jollibee Group brands (Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal, Burger King) but also for other major anchor tenants,” Sia said.

DoubleDragon, previously known as Injap Land Corp., started in 2009 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sia’s holding company, Injap Investments Inc. Last year, Tan Caktiong’s HoneyStar Holdings acquired 50 percent of the company, which was later renamed DoubleDragon.