Vista Land readies investment of P45B

Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc., a listed property developer controlled by the Villar family, sees investments in its township development in Sucat, Parañaque dubbed Lakefront hitting P45 billion over the next five to 10 years, officials said on Thursday.

The 60-hectare mixed-use project was started in 2004 and is being developed in several phases, which have done well in terms of sales so far, Maribeth Tolentino, president of condominium arm Vista Residences, said during a press briefing.

The project is 45 percent developed in terms of land area, at a cost of P5 billion, she said. The final plan for the entire community would include more mid-rise residential, commercial and office buildings, she added.

In terms of sales, the project is worth about P80 billion, assuming it will be fully sold out, said Red Rosales, head of corporate planning and marketing at Vista Land. He said demand for office space could ramp up as supply in Makati and Bonifacio Global City dwindles.

“Sucat is very prime today,” Tolentino said, noting that future development would veer away from horizontal-type projects. “It’s going to be commercial, mid-rise and possible high-rise.”

Officials were earlier anticipating to complete Lakefront by next year, although the strategy had to be adjusted to take into account changing market preferences as well as rising real estate prices, partly driven by massive transport infrastructure spending in southern Metro Manila.

Rosales noted that average prices were hovering at P65,000 to P70,000, which he said was about three times the values in 2004. Buyers are a combination of end-users and investors, who mainly acquire condominium units.

Lakefront is a flagship development of Vista Land, which claims to be the country’s largest developer of horizontal homes due to the popularity of its low-cost unit, Camella Homes.

Vista Land earlier reported that net income in the six months through June hit P2.6 billion, up 18 percent. Revenues during the period hit P9.7 billion, up 20 percent.

Vista Land is the holding company of five business units—Brittany, Crown Asia, Camella Homes, Communities Philippines and   Vista Residences. Miguel R. Camus