Brisk Sales for Suntrust’s Davao Project

DAVAO CITY -- Suntrust Properties, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of tycoon Andrew L. Tan’s Megaworld Corp., hit P1 billion in sales for its One Lakeshore Drive condominium project from January to May this year.

The four-tower residential complex will be located inside Megaworld’s 7.2-hectare Davao Park District township project.

“We’re experiencing all-time high on sales for the year for One Lakeshore,” said Suntrust Assistant Vice-President Leonora P. Gutierrez said in an interview.

She said units in Towers 1 and 2 are now almost sold out, while Towers 3 and 4 are “doing good” as well.

Ms. Gutierrez said if sales continue to be brisk until July, they intend to launch another cluster of condominiums by August, during the city’s major festival, the Kadayawan.

Plans for the new cluster have already been submitted to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), which has yet to issue a development permit.

The Suntrust official said their project has been attractive to buyers given the track record of Megaworld in developing townships such as Eastwood City and McKinley Hill in the capital.

Ms. Gutierrez added that Davao Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte’s huge win in the Philippine presidential elections has also helped a lot.

The Davao Park District, located behind the SM Lanang shopping mall, will have offices, business process outsourcing (BPO) facilities, retail shops, restaurants, and later on a school.

Megaworld also announced last week that it will build two more office towers, in addition to the P1.2-billion, 15-storey Davao Finance Center, which is now under construction.

“Our target for Davao Finance Center is to have the building ready by early part of next year,” said Jericho P. Go, Megaworld senior vice-president, during a press conference here last week.

He said they are expecting the whole township complex to fully “mature” within the next 10 years, as the BPO industry continues to grow.

Locations outside the capital such as Davao are becoming more and more attractive given the lower rental rates, Mr. Go added.

The Davao Finance Center will have 20,000 square meters of leasable spaces.