Finding its place in the sun

Suntrust continues to rally behind its goal of creating innovative developments that could help improve the lives of many hardworking Filipinos.

It may have been a venture born in a time of crisis.

But that fact now remains almost imperceptible given the notable achievements and huge success that Suntrust Properties Inc. (SPI) has long been enjoying over the past two decades—call that pure luck, good fortune, or simply hard work.

“Suntrust started in the midst of the Asian financial crisis. It was spun off from Empire East Land Holdings and was tasked to take care of the lower or affordable market segment. The company was then known as Empire East Properties, but in 2008 it was renamed Suntrust Properties,” explained company president Atty. Harry M. Paltongan.

Affordable homes

Suntrust Properties Inc. (SPI), which was established in November 14, 1997, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Megaworld Corp., a company under the umbrella of the Alliance Global Inc.

Its purpose then was to serve the affordable real estate market segment which was pursuant to the vision of its chairman Dr. Andrew L. Tan. However, Suntrust’s inception came at a time when the Philippines was facing a great deal of challenge due to the Asian financial crisis.

And like many other industries, developers like Suntrust Properties went through really difficult times before it became what it is today—the No. 1 provider of affordable homes.

“The company started from difficult beginnings. In fact, my first job was to retrench most of our people because we did not have the sales and we did not have collections. What made it even more difficult was that we only had one project to sell, there were no interested buyers because of the crisis, and the interest rates were up to 36 percent at that time,” Paltongan recalled.

Challenging times

“The year between 1997 to 2004 were the most challenging years for the company. This was when we decided to implement changes and make adjustments in the company’s work culture. We have a creed that we follow, but the challenge really was how to convince people to renew their faith in the company,” Paltongan explained.

He revealed that during those challenging years, Suntrust could not even afford to grant merit increases or bonuses.

“We made them understand how it is to work together and from there, we were able to cut all these hierarchies. We even asked them what they think their role should be and after those talks, we did some adjustments and realigned people to where we believe they would do best,” Paltongan recalled.

Such challenges failed to deter the people behind the brand to pursue their mission.

Under the leadership of its chairman, Suntrust and its employees continued to rally behind its goal of creating innovative developments that could help improve the lives of many hardworking Filipinos.

Recovery

In a decade’s time, the company managed to get back on its feet, reaping the rewards of its hardwork and perseverance.

“We tried to survive with few inventories. We tried to cut our costs and little by little, we were able to survive. With the changes in positions and the transformations, there also came the joint ventures that we’ve entered into with various landowners. With these JVs, we slowly grew and expanded our portfolio,” he shared.

The company’s recovery was slowly felt in the latter part of 2004 and in 2007, when Paltongan took over as the company’s new president, Suntrust Properties has managed to cement its position as one of the country’s most reliable home providers.

“It was in 2007 I think that we really had marked increases in project sales and collections. By putting in place measures that helped us rise from the challenges, we managed to grow our portfolio and inventory of products,” Paltongan said.

Vision

Today, Suntrust Properties has solidified its position as a market leader among horizontal developers, with its pioneering design and themed concepts.

It has also ventured into vertical or condominium developments in the metropolis and continues to transform a number of projects like the Sherwood Hills Golf and Residential Estate in Cavite into a prime golf destination and country club community.

The company is also developing industrial parks which integrate residential, commercial and institutional developments—a move that dovetails with the township concept introduced by Suntrust chairman Dr. Andrew L. Tan.

“Our vision now really is to provide huge inventories of houses, industrial parks, commercial spaces and everything that the local market needs at an affordable rate. Over the years, we continue to try to reduce our production and operation costs at the best way possible so we can offer our products at a rate below our competitors,” Paltongan explained.

“Through such practices, we were able to achieve our goal without sacrificing the quality of our developments. At Suntrust Properties, we don’t just construct houses, but rather create communities that are reflective of the places that our target market is used to,” he said.

More specifically, Suntrust Properties is known to create projects that mirror the communities which its target market, including the overseas Filipino workers, are accustomed to. These themed communities include the Italian-inspired Verona in Tagaytay and Sentosa in Laguna.

And Suntrust isn’t stopping there as it has committed to continue creating highly livable communities, which served as its contribution to society—not just in terms of providing homes, but also employment and livelihood.

The target, according to Paltongan, is to further expand Suntrust’s reach not just in Metro Manila but also in Davao and Bacolod, among other sites.

Paying homage

For 2017, Suntrust Properties marks its 20th year with a campaign that honors the workers who have helped catapult the company to success.

To celebrate and pay homage to people who have been working non-stop to deliver these projects, Suntrust launched the “Bentengkyu” campaign, wherein each of the employees is encouraged to grant a particular “hiling” (wish) of an individual.

“We have explained to our employees and sales people that all throughout these years, we have been recognizing them and therefore we want them to do the same for those people who helped the company to be where it is now. For our 20th year, we asked them to look back and say thank you to this company for helping uplift their lives and in doing so, they should also recognize the people who were instrumental to the success of the company,” Paltongan related.

“With this campaign, we hope to be able to make everyone realize the crucial role that each of them play—from the carpenters to the mason and everyone else involved in the business,” he further said.

The Bentengkyu Suntrust campaign has seen employees granting wishes of many of the workers and in doing so, they have managed to create a bond that went beyond the employer-employee relationship. The program has successfully strengthened ties and enabled each individual to realize the value of the work they do for each other.

“As we celebrate our 20th year this November, we believe that we have managed to confirm the little successes that we have gained. And yes, there were difficult times, but there were also lots of good times,” Paltongan noted.

“For now, (our 20th year) will be a celebration of those little successes and a starting point of much better things ahead. We will expand our residential township developments and also add more industrial parks. In effect, it is a starting point for us to venture to bigger goals. For us to be able to expand that far, we needed to look into ourselves and try to pay homage to everyone who have contributed thus far to these little successes,” Paltongan concluded.