Highlands bares P800-M dev’t project

Highlands Prime Inc. (HPI), the spin-off unit of property developer Belle Corp., will launch next month its maiden undertaking in the high-end residential segment, an P800-million development project expected to bring in gross revenues of P1.5 billion next year, a top company official said.

Called the Woodridge, the five-hectare 150-unit residential community will be put up inside the Tagaytay Highlands and will take about 15 months to complete. To be developed in three phases, the project is envisioned to have seven clusters of medium density high-end condominium dwellings, each unit costing around P8 to P9 million.

"We see encouraging market conditions and we are further focusing on developing residential projects in the next five to 10 years," Antonio Henson, HPI president said during the company’s first stockholders’ meeting yesterday.

HPI was spun off last year as part of Belle’s corporate restructuring aimed at wiping out its heavy debt load. From a 100-percent subsidiary, Belle eventually sold off a majority stake or 51 percent to the SM Group of retail taipan Henry Sy and further disposed of about 20-percent equity by way of an initial public offering (IPO) last April.

As a new company, HPI started debt-free and assumed ownership of core property assets made up of undeveloped land, subdivision lots and finished residential units located in Tagaytay Highlands in Cavite and Tagaytay Midlands in Batangas with a combined fair market value estimated at P7.715 billion.

These assets consist of a total landbank of about 534 hectares of undeveloped properties in Tagaytay, Calamba in Laguna and Talisay and Tanauan towns in Batangas and completed residential units and developed subdivision lots in various Belle projects such as Pinecrest Village, The Villas, The Belle View, The Woodlands, Lakeview Log Home, The Alta Mira and Lakeview Heights.

Henson said in its short period of operation in the first six months of 2002, HPI has stayed on track of its income target for the year, earning P21 million on net revenues of P80 million. For the year 2001, HPI registered no revenues as it had not yet started commercial operations.

The HPI official said aside from sustaining near-term operations by selling its inventory of completed units and lots, HPI is also studying and planning new residential projects within the Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands complex.

"After the Woodridge, we will embark on other projects like a multi-family residential condominium across the Pinecrest Village in Highlands and a Lakeside condominium development in Midlands," Henson added.