Manuel Villar Jr., chairman of property developer Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc., is ditching the socialized housing segment of the residential market as the company is spending some P1.48 trillion for the development of its 44 estates around the country.
Villar, the country’s richest man, said the company will develop some 1,483 hectares of landbank located within some 23 cities in the country, which it will call Vista Estates.
On the average, the company will spend some P136 billion per 100 hectares of land that will have a mix of high-rise residential and commercial projects.
The areas that it will develop are in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, Davao, Cebu, Bacolod and Iloilo.
“The land value in these areas are already so high that it no longer makes sense to develop horizontal housing so we will be building high-rise condominiums, office towers, hotels and commercial projects,” Villar said.
He said that the company will continue horizontal projects in the provinces where land prices are lower since the sites are not yet as urbanized.
“We are now launching our townships under Vista Estates which will consist of 1,483 hectares, or an average of 33 hectare per location, out of our total portfolio of 3,300 hectares,” Villar said.
The current 44 estates sprawl across the Philippines with 13 in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, 13 in Luzon, 8 in the Visayas and 10 in Mindanao.
“Currently, even more Vista Estates are on the verge of rising,” Villar said.
Villar said Vista Land has already been “penalized” by the market as it is viewed as a low-cost housing or horizontal developer, after it constructed thousands of housing units for both the low and middle of the market for the past decades.
He said the company should be valued more as its business has over the years progressed to the highly profitable segment of the business.
Villar said the estates will be launched during the middle of next year, Villar said.
He said the properties to be developed in these estates were intentionally left for future developments when the first portions were launched as a residential community.
For the socialized housing project, the company will instead opt for alternative modes like buying government bonds that will finance projects in the segment.
“Vista Land is investing into these masterplanned developments, making good on its promise to valued homebuyers and investors to create superior product offerings and, more importantly, deliver excellent long-term investment growth,” Villar said.
The property developer’s foray into the commercial segment started in 2015.