MANILA, Philippines – High-end developer Century Properties Group Inc. has jumpstarted its bid to gain a foothold in key regions outside Metro Manila.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Century Properties said it acquired close to eight hectares of property in the city of San Fernando in Pampanga.
The strategic location of the property, which was acquired from the House of David Realty and Development Corp., makes it ideal for a mixed-use development with residential, commercial and institutional components, Century Properties said.
“This will form part of a city or town center that the company envisions for the area, to position it as a future central business district in the north,” Century Properties said.
“We are confident that, similar to how it has masterplanned its projects in Metro Manila, Century Properties will also build a world-class urban center in San Fernando, Pampanga,” said Ladislao David, chairman emeritus of the House of David Group.
Century Properties said the Pampanga project will allow the real firm to book P6 billion in sales from the residential portfolio targeting end-users from the middle-income market segment.
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The acquisition was backed by a portion of an equity placement offering, the company said.
In March, Century Properties, controlled by the Antonio family, raised P1.64 billion by selling shares to foreign investors to support its landbank expansion in Metro Manila and secondary cities.
Century Properties said its strategic expansion to the north is guided by the rapid progress in Central Luzon.
Central Luzon is now more accessible through various road networks like the North Luzon Expressway and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.
Boosted by a middle class population, San Fernando City was recently ranked as the third most competitive city by the National Competitiveness Council. The number of new businesses in the city hit close to 5,000 last year from 3,574 in 2010.
“Century Properties will contribute to further enhance the competitiveness of San Fernando by building an integrated urban center that will complement the city’s progressive pace,” the property firm said.
In the first half, Century Properties reported that its pre-sales jumped 13.3 percent to P12.1 billion from P10.7 billion in the same period last year. This makes the company on track to hitting a record P24 billion in pre-sales for the entire year.
Strong pre-sales were attributed to Century Properties’ projects like the Trump Tower in Makati, Azure Urban Resort Residences in Parañaque and the Residences at Commonwealth in Quezon City.
For this year, Century Properties allotted P7 billion for its capital expenditures that will support the construction of new buildings. To date, Century Properties has five key projects totaling 31 buildings and 955 single detached homes.
With 27 years in the business of real estate development, marketing and property management, Century Properties has completed 21 condominium buildings (5,560 units) with a total gross floor area of 669,857 square meters and is managing 50 properties as of end-2012.
