CLI picks 3.5-ha space in Pasig City for Luzon debut

Cebu Landmasters Inc.

CEBU CITY—Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) will make its Luzon debut on a 3.5-hectare (ha) land in Pasig City. The company insists that the residential oversupply in the capital region would “settle” soon enough.

Jose Franco Soberano, CLI chief operating officer, acknowledged that Pasig City itself has some of the highest inventory levels in Metro Manila.

But he told reporters last week that their recently acquired property was situated along Ortigas Avenue Extension. It is a major commercial business district that can attract potential homeowners and investors.

READ: CLI premium project ‘The Wave’ all set for July debut

Real estate broker Leechiu Property Consultants reported that it would take around three years to clear the residential inventory in Metro Manila. Of the 82,800 unsold units in the region, 15,000 are within the Ortigas area.

Still, Soberano said: “I’m very confident in the correction of our market … We are all in the industry. We have to believe that our market will correct.”

This optimism has encouraged CLI to start construction at the Pasig property by the second half of next year. Thus, it has initiated the first phase of the project.

According to the COO, the Pasig development will have nine predominantly residential and mixed-use towers. It would cater to the working professionals in the area.

“We have a multi-phase project. We can start with one [tower], and if we feel that the demand is very strong, we’ll launch another one,” he said.

“We positioned it for the improvement of the market … we’ll observe and see how we compare with competitors,” Soberano added.

This marks CLI’s first venture outside the Visayas and Mindanao. In these regions, it leads in the middle and upper-middle income markets.

The units will be priced from P3 million to P7 million each, mainly targeting end-users who will actually occupy these properties. They would do so instead of simply investing and living elsewhere.