Luxureville – a new haven in the South

I’m from the South, so I view any major development in the area with much interest and curiosity. Luxure Properties Development Corp. (LPDC) scored a double feat recently, I learned. First off, they unveiled their latest project, Luxureville, which is the country’s first well-contained community inside a subdivision, and this is the vast Multinational Subdivision in Parañaque. Second, they signed a contract with Asia Pacific Realty to market this prestigious mixed residential and commercial project.

Luxureville sits on a 1.25 hectare area of the subdivision, along Matthew Street, if you’d like an on-site visit. Construction has been ongoing for some time now and, after nine months; the company is ready to turn over the first building completed, which they call the Gold Finch. This gives us a clue on where lies the inspiration, the vision of the property developers.  The finch is a bird, as most of us know, and the project developers have taken a cue from the free-spirited creatures who take to the unlimited space afforded by the sky to indulge their penchant for freedom. Luxureville promises a real sanctuary of tropical birds in a spacious aviary, one of the premium attractions in the project. It is well within hearing distance of the pool, so residents will have the chirpy sounds of the numerous birds as they swim in the vanishing-edged pool.

This goes well with their over-all concept of a tropical paradise in the midst of a concrete jungle that is the metropolis - they have a landscaped jogging path for the health-conscious who will most certainly prefer the calming view of a tropical milieu rather than the cold asphalt as you jog in the morning or walk your dog at night. There are pocket gardens lined up around the property, giving bursts of blooms amidst soothing, lush greenery.

Which brings us to the sky gardens atop the buildings.  As their space planners put it, in other subdivisions, this was the exclusive enclave of the penthouse dweller, but they thought it was something that all residents should have access to, that everyone must have a piece of the sky. Like the rest of the project, it is thematic in that it will be lush and flowery so think nature when you come up to have a Sunday barbecue with the family.

To complete the amenities, they have included a gym for all the residents, a sauna, and a full-service spa as well.

The design, according to the project planners, is “contemporary tropical”, so even the architectural exterior sports this over-all theme.  There will be seven medium-rise buildings, 9 to 11 storey high.  Since they envision this to be a well-contained community, meaning you virtually do not have to venture out for your basic needs, they have allotted something like 21 units for commercial space.  These may be used for such purposes as convenience stores, water stations, snack bars, etc.

The units range from 21.85 sq.m (studio) to 48.2 sq.m for a two-bedroom unit, though units may be combined for bigger space, up to even 300 sq.m., should the buyer opt to. Easy terms are available — for smaller units, they go as low as P8,000/month. Ask Asia Pacific Realty — they are friendly, hard-working people who will happily bring you to the site and explain in the simplest terms what you face as a buyer.

The developers are right on track with their timetable. MS. Fe Agudo tells us that, after only nine months, they have finished the first building, unlike other developers that take 12, 24 or even 36 months to finish a project. 

Those who are not from the South may view developments here with some trepidation, citing traffic, long travel time, etc. Luxureville has several access points, so it is literally minutes away from the Makati Business District, the Ortigas Center, Manila Bay areas, and the industrial parks of Cavite and Laguna, plus easy access to major roads such as South Luzon Expressway and accessibility to the Ninoy Aquino Airport, the Manila Harbor, and the provincial bus stations.

Asia Pacific Realty has been in the realty scene for more than two decades now, but along with other developers, they had to lie low from property selling after the Asian financial crisis. With the recent interest in the property market, they have gone full steam ahead, marketing condominiums, house-and-lots, townhouses, office condos and others; they have created their own niche in the realty market with novel selling schemes which are considered trail-blazing in the industry. Our very own kababayans abroad have taken a renewed interest in the local property sector and our OFWs, in particular, touted as the new middle class, look to affordable housing for the family. Filipinos who have been working abroad all their lives can now look forward to settling down in comfortable retirement communities which have started to unravel in some key places.

Now with over a hundred sales assistants, fully knowledgeable about the properties in their widening portfolio, they have really bounced back, and how! This certainly looks like a good partnership; something South dwellers like us can look forward to with much enthusiasm.

Waiting them all out to die?

Got a few letters from some readers complaining about the lack of response to their complaint which dates back 8 years ago. One of them, Mr. Ely Alba, informed us that, along with several others, they invested their money with a certain company sometime in year 2000, with the promise of good  (not indiscriminately high) returns. These investors, mostly businessmen, some of them retirees, thought highly of this investment company, as its president had a good following among the Chinese businessmen. I learned from a recent newspaper item that this guy, surnamed Roxas, is being hounded relentlessly by his victims. In the course of time, some of them have passed away but considering the amount of money involved, the families have not given up. I understand from Mr. Alba, who himself had entrusted about P28 million of his family’s savings to the guy, that the group has banded together and appealed to no less than the President and likewise with the Department of Justice to investigate without bias and help them recover their investments. The guy remains free, but people who know him say he can very well pay back the investors. Though they hold the company’s checks representing their capital plus interests accrued, these are worthless papers. The acknowledgement receipts for their investments are likewise just as worthless. So what’s up with the DOJ? When is justice going to catch up with these hapless investors? When they’re all dead? Or when there are newer sets of victims to replace them as complainants?

Mabuhay!!!  Be proud to be a Filipino.

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