High-end condo developer sees steady sales from local buyers

By Debra Magallon-Estero
DESPITE the legal battles it is facing, a developer of a high-end condominium project reported that it was still able to receive better than expected sales from the local market.
“It came as a surprise,” said Syntech Properties sales and marketing manager Anita Go Blanco during an interview last Thursday.
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“They are mainly the ones who have heard about the negative publicity, but they are still buying the units,” said Jesus Alao, sales executive for Syntech Properties Inc.
Syntech Properties is the developer of Citylights Gardens, a four-tower condominium compound located in Nivel Hills, Apas, Cebu City.
Local buyers account for 18 percent of the buyers of units at the Citylight Gardens Towers 3 and 4.
Sixty percent of the buyers are mainly foreign nationals with Filipino spouses, while 22 percent are foreign nationals who are either expatriates or retirees.
Of the 216 units of Towers 3 and 4, 150 units have been sold, of which 120 units were already turned over to their owners.
Optimistic
Blanco said the company is optimistic it will be able to sell the remaining units next year.
“If only there was no global financial crisis, we could have sold all the units this year,” she said.
Syntech Properties has invested P44 million in the rehabilitation of the common areas and facilities of the development.
However, it still cannot determine when the rehabilitation will be completed since some common areas are being occupied by officers of the condominium corporation of Towers 1 and 2.
This includes the coffee shop room, which is used as their administrative office, and the electrical room, which was converted into a storage room.
The rehabilitation project of Syntech Properties led the residents of Towers 1 and 2 to file legal cases against Syntech Properties.
Last July, residents of Towers 1 and 2 filed a contempt case against Syntech Properties for allegedly cutting off the water supply to the two towers last March.
But Alao said a court decision on the water issue was already served, which “hopefully settles everything,” he said.
According to the omnibus order from Regional Trial Court Branch Six, copies of which were furnished by Syntech Properties to reporters, the court decided against the unit owners’ petition for a preliminary injunction against Syntech Properties since Syntech was found not to have been in violation of the conditional water permit (CWP).
The unit owners of Towers 1 and 2 had wanted Syntech to stop supplying water to Towers 3 and 4, saying this was a violation of Syntech’s conditional water permit.