Young leader offers fresh perspectives for real estate industry

At 29 years old, Jardin Brian Wong has had years of experience in business, starting at the age of six as a seller at his parents’ fruit stand. Now, he stands as the COO of Golden Bay Land Holdings, a property development company. Their first project is Aspire Corporate Plaza, a 10-story office structure in Pasay City that is set for completion this June 2020––a year ahead of schedule. 

Growth catalyst

Taking care of their clients means giving them a space to grow. Under his leadership, Aspire was planned to be attractive not only to big corporate entities, but also to give space to smaller enterprises at a medium scale. “We have a big investment group from China which is set to occupy two floors, but we also have up and coming companies in manufacturing, trading, and logistics that will be perfectly positioned in the property because of its proximity to the airport.”

His vision is to be a catalyst in any location that they build, in the same way, that their Golden Bay Restaurant, which is located a few meters away from their office tower project was among the first destinations in the Macapagal Boulevard area. “When we broke ground for Aspire, the nearby properties which were vacant, started drawing up their plans as well,” he shares. “We focused on building an office building because this area has become known for residential. We wanted to be able to offer business spaces to the community.” 

Their next major undertaking is set to bring growth to the Bacoor area of Cavite. “It is a place known to be noisy and crowded, but with our Garden City mixed-use development with its six towers that combine the live, work, and play aspects promoted in global cities like Hong Kong and Singapore, it will have an office tower, retail, and as much as 15 amenities that are designed for family bonding.” They want to change the perception of the location, by offering their customers affordable housing with upscale amenities that are unexpected of the area. “We want to go beyond expectations, outdo the status quo, and set current standards in the industry by really offering value for money,” he adds. 

Bigger picture

“We want people to start investing early in their homes,” Jardin explains. “I want people to be able to own their houses. Today, you see senior citizens who are still working instead of enjoying their golden years in leisure because they don’t own a house. Hence, the burden of one generation becomes the burden of two generations.”

According to him, offering quality developments at reasonable prices is their way of helping in nation-building. “Young and middle-aged people can believe in their future and the economy when they have their own homes. They become more productive individuals contributing to the economy and they will be able to aspire for more material things and drive domestic growth.”

He notes that they will, in their own way, be able to contribute towards alleviating the housing backlog of the country, while balancing it with the business side with their shareholders.  

From the ground up

Being a boutique developer has its advantages. They may not have the bigger budgets that the industry stalwarts have for their marketing and sales, but being smaller has its own advantages, he says. “We are closer to our clients and suppliers so we can build relationships with them. Needs and requests are easier addressed because decisions can be made without passing through too many layers. We also have a young, dynamic workforce that brings in each individual’s expertise.”

He is part of that youthful dynamic, as the one who handles the day-to-day operations of the company as its COO – which he jokingly says that does not stand for the typical Child of Owner stereotype associated with most children of successful businessmen.  He candidly says that he is the FCOO-LU or “Favorite Child of Owner Na Laging Nau-Utusan,” He adds that “I have three other siblings, but it was more or less understood that I would be in a leadership capacity in the company since I was involved in the negotiations for Aspire. I was also always on the business side with my father Bong when my mother Cely ran and won the local elections as Governor of Catanduanes.”

He has prepared for this role. He is a Political Science graduate from De La Salle University, which gave him good groundwork for reading comprehension. He was also fortunate enough to study in China for almost 2 years, he says, as he was exposed to how other cultures do business. Upon the decision-making process of becoming the COO, he requested a solid team and negotiated good salaries and benefits in order to attract the right candidates. 

“You should have seen us when we were starting out. There were only three of us in the office, which was only 20 sqm big.” They are now temporarily housed in one of the function rooms of the Golden Bay restaurant until they could move into their 1,000 sqm office at Aspire with more than 50 full-time employees across 5 different departments. 

Age advantage

He talks about how his age seemed to be a drawback in the beginning. “You could see in their body language that they were not taking me seriously. It is normal for them to have doubts, of course, but about two years into the project and they saw how serious I was, the attitude started to change. In my mind, in a good way, I was laughing, because the bigwigs started to ask me if I wanted coffee.” He has realized that financial institutions actually welcome and support the second- or third-generation’s entry into the business because it means longevity. 

His age makes him more adaptable, he says. “I am a quick learner. To learn new things in the technical side, I often talk to our engineers and study what they tell me. In our next meetings, I am able to differentiate between good and bad engineering practices, for example.”

He has had to sacrifice a lot of leisure time, he admits, as meetings may run longer than expected and that prevents him from joining social gatherings – “or finding dates”, he laughs.  He lauds the wonders of technology, though, as with communication apps that allow messages and photos sent in real-time makes it easier to make decisions and troubleshoot on the spot. 

“My age group is more adept with technology and we harness it to make things easier for us,” he says. They are set to launch an app, for example, that will be able to measure performance growth and post checklists for accomplishments. “This will make it easier to streamline our operations and keep all of us on the same page. Of course, meetings are still important so we have those regularly between me and the department heads so we are all updated on progress and issues they have encountered. I would say this is because my management style is very hands-on, I want to be able to know what each one is doing.”

His advice for his contemporaries is to dream big and focus on not giving up too easily. “I tell my friends that what is stopping most people is the fear of failure. There is no reason not to take on any challenge as long as they are guided by the wisdom and experience of their elders. Our age is not a hindrance to do great things and make an impact.” 

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