Cebu Holdings turns 25

THE latest expansion of Ayala Center Cebu adds over 36,000 square meters in gross leasable area.

The Ayala group, through affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc., acquired a 45-hectare golf course in Cebu City in 1988 with the vision to transform it into a business and commercial district that it felt the vibrant city needed to cement its position as the most important urban center outside Metro Manila.

Twenty-five years and over P20 billion in investments later, that vision became reality, with CHI’s crown jewel Cebu Business Park redefining the skyline of Cebu City.

Cebu Business Park is considered the undisputed central business district of the Queen City of the South, as well as its primary retail and entertainment hub.

CEBU Holdings Inc. was initially established in 1988 to develop the Cebu Business Park, the first large-scale, masterplanned development in Cebu.

Publicly listed CHI, which undertakes large mixed use real estate developments in Cebu, underscored the latest chapter in its continuing journey of expansion with the launch last December of the latest phase of the expansion of Ayala Center Cebu, which was opened in 1994 and the centerpiece of Cebu Business Park.

The four-level retail expansion completes the Retail Master Plan of Ayala Center Cebu and brings to the local market an additional 36,500 square meters of gross leasable area. Anchor tenants are Rustan’s Fresh and Rustan’s Department Store, with popular multinational brands Zara, Mango, Gap, Toys R Us and Muji as junior anchor tenants.

Antonino T. Aquino, ALI president and CHI chair, tells BusinessMonday that the search for more opportunities in Cebu continues, considering that it remains the second major metropolis in the Philippines.

Aquino sees bright prospects in the business process outsourcing as well as tourism, office space and residential sectors.

“Cebu is a principal growth center,” says Aquino in a recent interview. “We are investing about P5 billion a year in all projects here, a big component for the city. By now, we have invested P20 billion and we plan to continue investing in all lines, from office to residential and retail. The concept is always integrated, mixed use development that is large scale.”

This is why other ALI subsidiaries flocked to Cebu and put up a range of residential projects to cater to different demographics and level of purchasing power under the brands Ayala Land Premier, Alveo, Avida and, soon, Amaia.

CHI president Francis O. Monera adds in a statement that the next three years will see the completion of the construction of eight residential towers and three more office buildings.

CEBU Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc., is committed to not just “reshape Cebu’s landscape but also help re-envision its future.”

Five more residential towers will complete the two existing residential complexes and will be launched soon, Monera says.

Another landmark development of CHI is the Cebu I.T. Park, which is described as “home to the largest concentration of IT and IT-enabled companies outside Metro Manila.”

In 2013, CHI subsidiary Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp., which developed the 24-hectare former Lahug airport into the Cebu IT Park, acquired another three hectares to address the demand for more space within the first information technology park in the Visayas and Mindanao to be accredited by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

The aggressive stance of CHI, named one of the country’s top 50 companies by the Institute of Corporate Directors, is in keeping with the theme “Fast. Forward. Faster,” which the company adopted to mark its 25th year.

Aquino says in a statement that, as it moves toward to another 25 years and more, CHI “will continue to create more communities and even explore new businesses as a testament to our strong confidence in the Cebu market.”

“We owe our continued success to a strong organization, our discriminating customers and the community which has supported us all these years,” Aquino adds.