Property icon confident amid political upheavals, land row

ONE OF the model units of the Grand Hyatt Residences

Through the turmoils of recent Philippine history, man-made or otherwise, there’s one unflinching international hotel brand that has stood its ground.

Despite the recent news of corruption in the highest levels of government, the violent unrest down in Mindanao, and even the territorial dispute between two cities over the Bonifacio Global City, this brand has a grand answer to these “negative vibes”: An opulent showpiece in Asia’s next tiger economy.

Grand Hyatt Manila and Residences—the next Hyatt-brand project in the Philippines joining the Hyatt Hotel & Casino Manila—is a P20-billion two-tower upscale development at BGC. The Hyatt structures—hotel and residences—will be the center of the master-planned development Veritown Fort (a 10-hectare upscale community of Federal Land which will house 11 residential projects, premier dining options and upscale retail spaces and boutiques).

Branded residential developments are emerging in global real estate. The Grand Hyatt Manila and Residences is being developed by Bonifacio Landmark Realty and Development Corp., a joint venture company between property developers Federal Land and Japanese financial services group ORIX Corp.

Peter Sears and Gordon Fuller of Hyatt International-Asia Pacific Ltd.

The Grand Hyatt Manila and Residences will face 7th and 8th Avenues with access to Kalayaan Avenue and the business and residential district of Makati. It is expected to open in 2015.

Gordon Fuller, area vice president/general manager of Hyatt International-Asia Pacific who was recently in the Philippines to attend the substructure’s topping off, observes that the country is “very liquid, forward thinking, dynamic.”

He adds that confidence also stems from partnering with a stable property company like Federal Land that has “so many developments under construction now.”

Fuller added that the 2015 target opening of the Grand Hyatt Manila and Residences would coincide with the Asia Pacific Economic Conference scheduled in Manila.

“Manila is attracting enterpreneurs and business owners that have an appetite for luxury brands and residences,” says Ratnesh Verma, senior vice president of real estate and development, Asia Pacific, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

Alfred V. Ty, chair of Bonifacio Landmark and president of Federal Land, says that the Grand Hyatt brand is a “great addition to Veritown” and “to the whole Fort Bonifacio.”

He adds that Veritown is being associated with the New York lifestyle. “It gives a good description of how we want the Veritown development to be.”