SMDC allots P12 billion for Wind Residences condo in Tagaytay

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential development arm of the Sy family’s holding firm SM Investments Corp., is spending around P12 billion to build Wind Residences, a nine-tower, 20-story condominium building in Tagaytay City.

The project, which falls under SMDC‘s SM Residences brands, will make available a total of 7,758 units when completed in 2015. The building will rise on a 15.45-hectare property along Tagaytay City’s main thoroughfare, the Emilio Aguinaldo Highway.

The company will break ground for the first tower tomorrow while another tower is also slated for construction before yearend.

“The groundbreaking for the Wind Residences is a milestone event for SMDC, as it is the company’s first residential project outside Metro Manila. We couldn’t have chosen a better site, as scenic Tagaytay offers unrivaled natural attractions such as its cool and windy climate, and is a very popular tourist destination that is quite proximate to the metropolis. Unit owners and dwellers of the Wind Residences are expected to greatly enjoy and benefit from what Tagaytay has to offer, in addition to the project’s five-star quality, prime location, and affordable prices, for which all SMDC homes are known, said Henry Sy Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer of SMDC.”

Among the project’s amenities include a clubhouse, badminton and basketball courts, swimming pools, children’s playground, and a jogging path, among others.

SMDC is hoping to raise around P11.7 billion from a stock rights offering scheduled this month. It is offering 1.83 billion shares to stockholders at the ratio of one rights share for every three common shares held as of Oct. 6. The shares will be sold at P6.38 each, above the earlier price range set by the company of P5.45 to P5.73 per share.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the company’s aggressive landbanking activities and ongoing and future construction projects.

The offering period will run from Oct. 18 to 22 while the listing of the shares will be on Nov. 3.

This is the second rights offering conducted by the company this year, the first of which was in January when it raised nearly P5 billion through the sale of 1.37 billion common shares at P3.50 apiece.

In May, SMDC raised another P10 billion from the issuance of corporate notes, which was more than three times oversubscribed by domestic institutional investors.

SMDC is planning to acquire properties in Cebu and Davao to tap a wider clientele base, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Its affiliate, SM Land, has offered nearly P48 billion to develop a 33.1-hectare lot south of Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City into a mixed-use complex. Under the government’s joint venture rules for such Swiss challenges, SMLI will bag the contract if it can match the highest counter-offer.

As of June this year, SMDC had 13 residential projects in the market including its affordable housing brand, My Place. My Place South Triangle - the pilot project located in South Triangle on Panay Avenue in Quezon City, consists of four condominium towers, offering a total of 3,000 units with sizes ranging from 20 to 40 square meters. Slated for completion in the first half of 2013, the project is estimated to cost around P2 billion.