CLI beats 2017 reservation sales goal

Construction update of Citadines Cebu City in Base Line Center as of January 15, 2018. This is Cebu Landmasters’ first hotel project and expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

Property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) racked up P4.58 billion in reservation sales last year, exceeding its full-year goal, due to the robust take-up of key residential projects.

The full-year reservation sales exceeded CLI’s goal by 13.75 percent and marked a 55.6-percent improvement over the reservation sales posted in 2016.

Reservation sales are a good indicator of how much revenues can grow in the years ahead once real estate construction takes progress.

CLI attributed this performance to strong demand for newly-launched residential projects: ‪38 Park Avenue‬ (Cebu IT Park) with 745 units, Casa Mira South (Cebu) with 3,200 units, Mivesa Garden Residences (Cebu) with 1,514 units, Mesaverte (Cagayan de Oro) with 798 units, and the 694-unit MesaTierra (Davao City). These projects are now almost fully sold, the company said.

“All the projects we launched were well-received by their respective markets making 2017 another banner year,” said CLI chief executive officer Jose Soberano III, citing the company’s efforts to penetrate new markets such as Davao and Dumaguete and to diversify its products.

In the past year, CLI also ventured into the hospitality industry to increase its inventory to a total of 610 rooms in four years. 

All CLI hotel projects are located within company-developed mixed-use communities. The 180-room “lyf Cebu City” by Ascott targeting millennial travelers and the 250-room Citadines Riverside Davao were launched in late 2017. They will complement Citadines Cebu City which is set for completion in 2018. 

More hotel projects are expected to break ground in 2018.

CLI is also confident it will gain even greater momentum this year. It has targeted reservations sales to hit P7 billion this 2018, up by 52 percent from the previous year.

Further growth is expected as CLI starts more projects and expands to more territories in Visayas-Mindanao growth centers.

This year, CLI is planning 10 new in Cebu alone, consisting of two residential subdivisions, three residential condominiums, three offices, one hotel and one industrial park.

CLI has also set its sights on two new territories in the Visayas. Bacolod will play host to two residential condominiums and a hotel, while a residential condominium is planned for neighboring Iloilo. 

The company also plans to fortify its foothold in Mindanao where it will launch two residential subdivisions and one residential condominium in Cagayan de Oro while a central business district and two residential condominiums will be unveiled in Davao. 

The upcoming projects boost CLI’s total number of projects to 66 from 46 last year.

“In 2018, we will continue to expand our footprint in the Visayas and Mindanao, and develop projects that respond to the growing market in these areas,” said Soberano.

CLI expects that hikes in household income resulting from the newly approved package 1 of the Duterte government’s Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) will be channeled to housing.  Remittances from overseas Filipinos and government spending in infrastructure are likewise seen to prop up property businesses outside Metro Manila.