Slow and steady: Ortigas and Co.’s development strategy

Aya Lowe

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Ortigas and Co. strategy is to develop their current land bank slowly and steadily with no plans to expand outwards or acquire new land.

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE. Ortigas and Co.'s conservative strategy has been their strength says Joey Santos, GM of real estate. Photo by Aya Lowe/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Property developer Ortigas & Co. said they will focus on slowly developing their current landbank in Metro Manila and will not look to expanding outwards.

The developer, which boasts a Manila-based land bank of 50 hectares, said they have no plans to expand outwards and will instead focus on slowly developing their current land bank.

“We are not looking to acquire more properties. We have enough in our areas of operation for the next 10 to 15 years,” said Joey Santos, General Manager of Real Estate Division of Ortigas and Company at a press briefing on Tuesday June 4.

Of their 50 hectares, which is spread across Pasig and Quezon City, the developer has so far only used one quarter according to Santos.

“We envision ourselves to be primarily city urban developers. We are not as big as the others. We don’t have the resources to grow outside the city. Most of our assets are inside the city and are in prime locations that will take us a while to develop so we will concentrate on that,” said Santos.

Santos said they will be spending P68 billion in various real estate projects over the next 15 years. From that they will be spending P25 billion on Capitol Commons, their flagship mixed-use project due to be complete in phases until 2018.

“In all of the residential projects we’ve done in the past have some of the best property values in the city and that’s because as a philosophy we are more conservative. We don’t launch as many units to the market so we have a better grasp of the supply and we don’t flood the market,” said Santos.

Ortigas & Co Limited Partnership Holdings Inc (OHI) is one of the oldest landlords of Manila. According to OHI’s website, they initially acquired the growing urban center of Mandaluyong which was then known as Hacienda de Mandaloyon in the mid 1900s. The vast property was then a “virtual wasteland” but has since developed into one of Manila’s CBD’s and a skyline of highrises with growing commercial and industrial businesses.

The Ortigases, who are of Spanish descent, operate Greenhills Shopping Mall, which sits on a 16.5-hectare land and one of the oldest malls in the metropolis. After failing to enter into a deal with suitors like the Gokongweis and the Ayalas in the early 2000’s, the Ortigas group decided to establish Tiendesitas, an open-air retail area with anchor tenants like SM, and Frontera Verde, a residential development at a sprawling 18.5-hectare landbank in Ortigas area.

Because of the increasing value of the land, members of the Ortigas family have been in separate talks with Sy-led SM Investments Corp. and Ayala Land, the country’s biggest real estate players for a possible joint venture deal.

One of the Ortigas family members is in talks with the SM SM, while another has opted to parner with Ayala Land Inc for development of their Ortigas properties.

Ortigas and Co.’s other upcoming projects include: Viridian in Greenhills, Silver City at Frontera Verde, an upgrade of Tiendesitas at Frontera Verde, Circulo Verde in Quezon City and Capitol Commons in Ortigas. – Rappler.com 

 

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