Ortigas firm goes into leisure farm development

Written by Miguel R. Camus / Reporter

Thursday, 24 June 2010 19:54

CONCRETE Aggregates Corp. (CAC), a listed affiliate of Ortigas & Co. Ltd., is breaking into the property development business via a high-end leisure farm project in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Following the company’s stockholders meeting on Thursday, CAC general manager Emmanuel Rapadas said the firm is estimated to generate gross revenues of P278 million selling 75 to 80 lots in the 10-hectare development called Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. Shareholders of the company yesterday gave the go-signal for CAC to proceed with the P100-million project, which will be started in the third quarter of the year. Project completion is expected in about eight months. Rapadas said the Batangas project could serve as a model for the company’s other underutilized real-estate assets. CAC also has 63 hectares in Rodriguez, Rizal; 20 hectares in Cardona and 12 hectares in Pampanga which are envisioned as “forward manufacturing bases” before CAC discontinued this business. “We are looking into ways to optimize values of these assets,” Rapadas told reporters yesterday. He said CAC is presently exploring other options for its existing landbank. “What we aspire to do is make use of CAC’s 100 hectares of idle land while lending a hand to the immediate community where its properties are situated,” he added. At present, the company generates the bulk of revenues by leasing its 211-hectare quarry in Angono, Rizal to a group led by cement company Lafarge Holdings (Philippines) Inc. Rapadas said the contract will run until 2023. Alongside the Batangas property development, CAC will also partner with a farm school for Sto. Tomas Leisure Farms. This model originated in Europe and is largely credited for making the continent an agricultural powerhouse. The business model would require the collaboration of four players namely CAC, lot owners, the farm school and an agricultural products distributor. Under this model, lot owners will have 75 percent of land tended by farm students growing high-value crops or green-house vegetables for profit.