Gaisano to set up P2-B condotel in Albay

LEGAZPI CITY—A P2-billion investment for a condo hotel will be set up in Legazpi City by the Gaisano Group, as a P1.2-billion new mall owned by the Ayala Group is set to open here next week, Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda said.

The Albay governor said the P2-billion condominium-hotel project is in answer to the pressing demand for more hotel rooms in the province.

Albay is targeting 5,000 more hotel rooms by the year 2020.

The new P1.2-billion mall right at the Legazpi business center is owned by the Ayala Group, in partnership with the local Liberty Commercial Center (LCC), Salceda said.

LCC is the Bicol mall-business pioneer since the early 1950s. It started as a grocery in Tabaco City, owned by the local Tan family. It is now operating the LCC Metro in Legazpi and LCC Metro in Naga City.

The site for the fresh Gaisano P2-billion investment, which would house between 600 rooms and 900 rooms, will be at the Gaisano-owned sprawling Landco Business Park right at the back of the Gaisano integrated shopping mall beside the Legazpi terminal.

Gaisano became the first and biggest mall in the Bicol region in 2002, next to the local and oldest LCC mall in the cities of Tabaco and Legazpi in Albay.

Legazpi is the regional center with the Bicol region’s lone five-star Mayon Imperial Hotel built during the early 1970s by the late Highways Minister Baltazar Aquino. It has been reaquired by at least three owners and was renamed the Mayon International hotel. It is now known as The Oriental Hotel operated by the Oriental Hotel Group.

Salceda said that, with the operation of the Bicol International Hotel in Albay, he’s hoping the province’s target of 5,000 more hotel rooms by 2020 from both local and international property developers would be realized. He said he has been in talks with three international investors to build the hotels.

Among the known local developers is the Sunwest Group of companies, owned by Rizaldy Co, who owns the Embarcadero Mall on the Legazpi bayside; the St. Ellis Hotel; and the Misibis Beach Resort and Spa in Bacacay town, one of the 10 outstanding resorts in the world, according to the Philippine Tourism Authority.

Salceda said the province needs more quality hotels and resorts to absorb the growing number of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

The Albay governor narrated that during a recent convention held in the province, 5,000 local guests could not be accommodated in all Albay hotels. He then tapped participants from Albay to accommodate in their residence participants from outside the province.

Salceda said that by the end of 2015, Albay will reach close to 1.1 million tourist arrivals, a 14-percent increase from last year. Hopefully, he said, by 2016, the P4-billion Bicol International Airport will be operational. President Aquino envisioned this airport to operate 24/7 as direct flights would be available.

Eric Tan, Gaisano properties-development manager, said the P2-billion condo-hotel investment will feature a three-building condotel with 10 storys each. He said the condotel would have condominium units available to own.

Source: by Manly Ugalde /  http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/gaisano-to-set-up-p2-b-condotel-in-albay/