EXECUTIVES of 8990 Holdings Inc. on Thursday said they remain bullish on the growth prospects of the affordable housing industry in Metro Manila, as the mass-housing builder promises to spend P8 billion by 2020 on its largest development, Urban Deca Homes in Tondo, Manila.
The 13-building project is within an 8.4-hectare property in Tondo, Manila. Upon completion, it will deliver a total of 13,000 units with an estimated value of P21 billion.
About eight buildings are already on the rise with two targeted for completion by the end of 2017.
“We’ve proven that the moment buildings are already put up, sales performance increases, as well. Once our buyers saw that the buildings are already nearing completion, we noticed a steady increase in our sales,” incoming 8990 Holdings President and CEO Willibaldo J. Uy said. “This will definitely keep our brokers very busy this Christmas season.”
Urban Deca Homes Manila will meet the housing needs of larger families who would want to reside within Metro Manila, according to Uy, who is currently the firm’s chief operating officer. The project will also feature a mall that would serve as an amenities area for its residents, he added.
“We are very excited about this project,” Uy said. “You see, Tondo has such a tightly knit community and the people who grew up there prefer to stay there. It is also attractive to entrepreneurs and employees who have businesses and work in the surrounding areas.”
He cited these areas as the “Caloocan-Malabon-Navotas-Valenzuela region” and surrounding areas of Manila, including Divisoria, Santa Cruz and Ermita.
“But you don’t see that many developments in the area that would accommodate the high demand for housing. This makes Tondo ripe for redevelopment,” Uy added. “One can only imagine how much the landscape of Tondo would change in the next five years.”
The company said it will still have a banner year since most of its sales are expected to happen by end of the year, as it expects to wipe out the slowdown of its profits that happened during the first three quarters of the year. 8990 Holdings blamed the profit decline from lower sales as a result of, among others, delayed release by government agencies of licenses the firm needs to proceed with construction.
For next year, however, the company is looking at launching five projects that will be located in different parts of the country, but mainly involves horizontal housing developments.