Court rejects PhilRealty rehab plan exit

MANILA, Philippines - A lower court has rejected Philippine Realty Corp.’s motion to exit corporate rehabilitation as the property firm has yet to settle its remaining obligations.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, PhilRealty said the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City “gave credence to the comment and recommendation of the rehabilitation receiver that the property firm still has substantial debt.”

PhilRealty, meanwhile, said it will submit a program to settle its remaining debt in accordance with the court-approved rehabilitation plan.

The company filed for rehabilitation with the courts after it was saddled with losses following a slump in the  real estate industry in 1997.

Once a high-profile real estate company, PhilRealty developed upscale projects in Ortigas Center foremost of which is Tektite Towers – the former headquarters of the PSE – and the Alexandra, a luxury mid-rise residential condominium.

In line with its goal to exit corporate rehabilitation by next year, PhilRealty is preparing to launch the second tower of Andrea North Skyline, a P2-billion, 32-story high-end residential tower in New Manila, Quezon City.

The new tower,  SkyBreeze, will house a total of 278 units.

The units, with sizes ranging from 50 square meters to 180 sqm, are slated for turnover to buyers by the middle of 2015.

Andrea North Skyline is the  second major component of PhilRealty’s court-approved rehabilitation plan and is the first of the planned five luxury towers to rise on the former site of the Pepsi Cola plant.

Currently 35 percent occupied, Skyline houses 340 units, consisting of one to four-bedrooms with sizes ranging from 45 to 220 sqm. Unit prices are in the range of P3 million to P12 million each.

The company is also building a middle-class townhouse subdivision in San Fernando, La Union.

PhilRealty has set a capital expenditure program of P500 million next year, mostly for the construction of SkyBreeze and the townhouse project.