Empire East to launch 5 new projects

MANILA, Philippines - Empire East Land Holdings Inc. of the Megaworld property group, will take advantage of the real estate boom by launching as many as five new residential projects next year.

The middle income developer of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan is expanding its transport-oriented developments while expanding its presence in the province, its top executive said.

“We have in the pipeline four to five projects. One in Manila, two in Quezon City and one in suburbs,” Empire East president and CEO Anthony Charlemagne C. Yu said in a phone interview.

“While the market is hot, it is a good time to launch new projects,” Yu said. In contrast, Empire East focused this year on the sale and rollout of new towers in existing condominium projects.

Like many real estate firms, the Megaworld group is enjoying brisk demand on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals, low interest rate environment, continued influx of overseas Filipino remittances and strong consumer sector.

The property group is composed of three brands: Megaworld, Empire East and affordable housing unit Suntrust Properties Inc.

For next year, three new projects will be transport-oriented condominium developments attached to mass transport systems, Yu said. To date, transport-oriented developments of Empire East include Pioneer Woodlands, Little Baguio Terraces and San Lorenzo Place.

One new project will be a high-rise condominium under the Empire East Elite brand while the fifth new project is a subdivision development in Laguna, Yu said.

“Now we are looking at Laguna because we have successfully sold Sonoma and Laguna BelAir there,” Yu said.

Given robust demand, Empire East, which is also in charge of Megaworld Central, is expecting almost P20 billion in sales this year. Megaworld Central is the brand behind the residential developments in Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.

“For these two, we will record P19 billion to P20 billion in terms of reservation sales,” Yu said.

“Hopefully we can sustain it or even perform better next year,” Yu said.

Empire East allotted P25 billion in the next five years to launch and build new projects to cater to strong demand. This will allow Empire East to develop its 450 hectares of land bank in the next few years.

“We are confident because the external environment is very good and we have a government that is business friendly, which adds to the confidence the business sector has,” Yu said.