Global Estates sets aside P20-billion for two tourism devt projects

Property developer Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI) is preparing to invest P20 billion for two tourism-oriented communities in Boracay and Tagaytay, reflecting a shift in its direction under its new owner, businessman Andrew Tan.

Tan-led Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) acquired a 60-percent stake in GERI, previously known as Fil-Estate Land Inc., in December last year for P5 billion. AGI is transforming the former debt-ridden but landed company into its vehicle for tourism-related developments.

Following the company’s stockholders meeting on Thursday, GERI assistant vice president Alain Sebastian told reporters that initial phases of the Boracay and Tagaytay projects are expected to start this year, which will be financed through a combination of debt and cash reserves.

GERI shares added 3.17 percent to P1.95 each on Thursday.

The larger of the two projects is the P15-billion Boracay development, to be called Boracay Newcoast, which will span 140 hectares within the popular tourist island in western Visayas, Sebastian said.  

He said the project will be developed over the next five years in partnership with the group of businessman George Yang who, together with AGI, owns the McDonald’s franchise in the Philippines.

The plan for Boracay Newcoast will include an 18-hole golf course, a wellness center, boutique hotels, private villas and retail outlets. Also on the drawing board are 1,500 hotel rooms to be managed by three international players and one local operator under AGI.

“This will be the single-biggest development of its kind in Boracay,” Sebastian said, noting that the project will help attract another 350,000 tourists per year to the island. Last year, Boracay saw more than 700,000 visitors.

GERI is simultaneously investing P5 billion on Twin Lakes, a 1,149-hectare community near metro Tagaytay which will be developed into a medical and educational tourism destination over 30 months, Sebastian said.

The initial phases of that project will feature residential condominiums, hotels and spas, dining establishments and sports facilities. Succeeding phases will include a “plantation” estate, vineyard chateau, golf course communities, health and wellness centers, boarding schools and a retirement village.

Sebastian said these projects are part of about 3,128 hectares of wholly owned and joint-venture parcels of land.

He noted that GERI remains committed to completing unfinished projects under the company’s former management , although he declined to discuss details how GERI will finance these developments.  

Fil-Estate Land was one of the country’s most aggressive real estate players prior to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Sebastian said higher sales will allow firm to report an estimated P60 million in the second quarter, from P44 million in the first quarter of the year.