8990 Holdings enters high-rise condo market

MANILA, Philippines—Mass housing developer 8990 Holdings seeks to diversify its product offering with the launch by July this year of its first high-rise residential project with units worth a maximum of P1.2 million each.

In a briefing on Wednesday following the listing of follow-on shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange, 8990 Holdings chair Mariano Martinez said the company would unveil to the property market this year a 40-story residential project on Edsa near the Victor R. Potenciano Medical Center in Mandaluyong City.

This will be followed by the launch of another 40-story residential project on Yakal Street in Makati City.

Each of these two projects will add 2,000 units to the property market.

These units will likely be turned over to homebuyers three years from the start of construction.

The launch of these projects will mark the debut of the company’s “Urban Deca Towers” brand promoting “micro-living”—offering affordable residential space with small cuts in strategic locations which could be an alternative to bed-spacing. Each unit covers 13 square meters complete with bathroom and customized furnishing to maximize the limited space.

“It’s all about quality of life,” said 8990 Holdings president Jesus Atencio, noting that its projects would make condominium living affordable to the same mass market that 8990 Holdings serves.

A salaried worker who will otherwise go home every day to Cavite or Laguna, he said, could now afford to buy a residential unit within the city where he or she could stay during weekdays.

At a price per unit of P1.2 million, this project will be affordable to those who can pay a monthly amortization of around P10,000.

8990 Holdings listed on Wednesday P9 billion in new shares sold to investors under a follow-on offering. Shares were down by 3 percent on listing day.

For only the second time in the Philippines, a formal cornerstone tranche was executed where two global long-term institutional investors—Khazanah Nasional Berhad (Khazanah) and TPG Capital (S) Pte. Ltd. (TPG)—subscribed to P2.9 billion worth of shares each.

This was the first investment of both Khazanah and TPG in the Philippines.