By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated March 12, 2010 12:00 AM
CEBU, Philippines - Landco Pacific Corporation and Genvi Development Corporation officially ended their agreement to jointly develop the 210-hectare high-end hillside residential resort called Monterrazas de Cebu.
Genvi Development Corporation, owned by the prominent Villalon family in Cebu who is also the landowner, is now taking full control of the development, after the two companies terminated their joint venture agreement recently.
In a press conference, Genvi Development Corporation president and general manager Augusto Villalon said that the company is committed to stick with the original plan to develop the entire 210-hectare property with a capital expenditure of P5 billion in the next 10 to 15 years.
Despite the termination of Genvi’s partnership with Landco, Villalon assured property owners, and prospective buyers of Monterrazas de Cebu to fast track the project. The targeted completion of the phase one of the project was delayed due to drainage and environmental problems, among others.
Villalon said Monterrazas de Cebu will now become Genvi’s biggest real estate project, as the company had only been developing small low-cost housing projects in Cebu.
Although the company has not been known as developer of big residential and high-end projects, the Villalon family committed to continue the original masterplan. In fact, it has readied a P300 million budget to move the development faster in the next 30 months.
“We are laying our company on the line here. We have to fulfill what is expected from us,” said Marga Villalon, Genvi’s vice president and treasurer.
In an official joint statement, Villalon and Landco Pacific Corporation president and chief executive officer (CEO) Alfred Xerez-Burgos III said they have agreed for Genvi to take over as developer and landowner of Monterrazas de Cebu.
Villalon reiterated the Genvi’s commitment to pursue Landco’s original vision for the project, while Landco agreed to be a consultant in the next several years to ensure smooth transition.
Early last year, the Metro Pacific Investment Corporation (MPIC) trimmed down its stake of Landco from a majority 51 percent to 30 percent, after agreeing to sell part of its shareholdings to AB Holdings for P220 million.
AB Holdings acquired P500-million loan to MPIC, an earlier report said that AB Holdings used Landco’s shares in three mall corporations to pay up the loan exposure.
Landco is one of the country’s biggest real estate developers. The Monterrazas de Cebu could have been the company’s flagship showcase in its first entry in the Visayas.
Villalon, who is a well-known architect in the country, assured that the phase I of the project, which is composed of two cluster lots, is scheduled to complete in the next three years, and land owners can already build their houses by the end of this year.
Upholding their good name as Cebuanos, the Villalon family erased impressions on the project’s uncertainty, instead vowed a much faster completion of the development.
“We know there will be market apprehensions, it is expected. But the proof is our delivery. We have a fantastic team that is very experienced in this kind of development,” Marga Villalon said.
Landco and Genvi inked the joint venture agreement in December of 2006, to start the Monterrazas de Cebu project, which is one of the largest integrated residential development projects, being built in Cebu in the last few years. It is located in the huge 220-hectare prime hillside estates which covers several barangays in Cebu City Labangon, Sapang Daku, Guadalupe and Buhisan.
The development, which will build complete line of real estate products, such as chic home address, townhouses, condominiums, commercial/lifestyle facility is targeted to complete in the next 10 to 15 years. (BANATNEWS)
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