Artist’s rendition of Acqua Private Residences
MANILA, Philippines–Publicly traded Century Properties will diversify into commercial leasing. This was the strategy the company will pursue as announced by its chairman and founder Jose E.B. Antonio during its recent annual stockholders’ meeting.
Century Properties is eyeing to develop more than 150,000 square meters to comprise its leasing portfolio that is expected to generate P1 billion of revenues when this is completed in 2019.
“The company is now evolving from being a top residential developer in Metro Manila to a leading well diversified real estate developer with significant recurring and predictable revenue streams,” Antonio said.
In the next several years, the 28-year-old property firm will turn over buildings from its portfolio of luxury, middle-income and affordable residential condominiums, as well as retail and medical office developments.
Century Properties chief operating officer Marco R. Antonio said: “The next years will be very busy for the company as we see through the completion of our projects. More importantly, this period will be a joyous occasion for unit owners who are looking forward to the projects’ completion and turnover.”
From 2012 to 2019, Century Properties is scheduled to deliver 31 buildings. It was in 2012 that Century started operating as a public company. Prior to this, the company has already completed 25 condominiums totaling 873,127 square meters with 8,777 units.
Of the 31 buildings, Century has already completed six. These are Gramercy Residences, Knightsbridge Residences, Azure Urban Resort Residences towers 1 to 3 and Century City Mall. Located at Century City, Gramercy has 73 floors above ground and with a total height of 250 meters from ground to architectural top. Knightsbridge is a 64-story tower that pays homage to the carefree and fun-loving spirit of Cool Britannia. Delivered in 2013, it is the second condominium to open in Century City.
The 31 buildings are not all residential but will include retail, office and medical office since Century recently announced plans to develop assets that will bring recurring income revenues to the company.
In March the company started this series of projects’ completion as it launched the Century City Mall, Makati’s newest mall in nearly 10 years. The 50,000-square-meter, five-level lifestyle center is the first of the company’s string of retail centers as it is looking into expanding this new portfolio in other master-planned developments.
Century turned over the 580-unit St. Tropez tower, the third residential building at the Azure Urban Resort Residences in Bicutan, Parañaque. The inauguration of the beach-themed development’s amenities such as the 3,500-square-meter man-made beach and the Paris Beach Club coincided with the turnover. Slated for turnover in the next two years are the fourth and fifth towers—Positano and Miami—in Azure.
Also for turnover this yearend is Centuria Medical Makati, a 28-story outpatient IT-medical arts building designed with US conglomerate GE Healthcare. This is Century Properties’ contribution to medical tourism and the improvement of outpatient care in the country.
Centuria will be equipped with a modern IT backbone to support its varied locators’ connectivity requirements. It will also offer medical concierge services.
Also for turnover by the end of 2015 is Milano Residences, a 55-story luxury tower with interiors designed by Versace Home; and Osmeña West, the first tower at the Residences at Commonwealth, Century Properties’ first development project in Quezon City. The project is the first multilevel vertical village in the area that also highlights a nurturing and holistic environment for every member of the family.
For turnover in 2016 is the luxury project Trump Tower at Century City. This collaboration between Century Properties and Trump Organization highlights New York-inspired luxury living that is consistent in all Trump-branded property across the world.
By next year, expected for completion is the Niagara, the first tower in Acqua Private Residences, the company’s 2.4-hectare tropical rainforest-themed development in Mandaluyong. The property will feature landscaped gardens with an exclusive clubhouse called The Pebble located in front of the regenerating Pasig River.
Azure Urban Resort Residences and Acqua Private Residences cater to the middle-income segment while Commonwealth by Century is in the affordable category.
Other sources of recurring income stream are the luxury tower Century Spire, and the office buildings Forbes Media Tower, Asian Century Center in Bonifacio Global City and the soon-to-launch Tower 6 of the Acqua Private Residences.
Century Spire will have not only residential floors but a number of floors for office space as well. On the other hand, the Forbes Media Tower and Asian Century Center located in Makati and BGC, respectively, are both exclusively office towers and expected to benefit from the continuous growth of the BPO sector and the entry of new enterprises.
The Forbes Media Tower is a partnership with the Forbes Media Group, publisher of Forbes Magazine. Asian Century Center is a joint venture with Asian Carmakers Corp., and will house the largest showroom of BMW, an upscale car brand, and its headquarters.