Philrealty exits rehab, sets strong comeback

MANILA, Philippines - Reeling under debt for 12 years, property developer Philippine Realty Corp. is making a strong comeback following its exit from court-assisted corporate rehabilitation.

In a briefing yesterday, Philrealty president Amador Bacani said the company is hoping to capitalize on a resurgent real estate market after the Quezon City Regional Trial Court terminated the rehabilitation proceedings following the full settlement of the firm’s obligations.

“With the termination of rehabilitation proceedings, we are now ready to tap both equity and debt markets and achieve the plans we’ve laid out.  With renewed vigor and defined outlook, we intend to move strongly and aggressively towards the upscale market segment” Bacani said.

To regain its prominence as a leading high-end property developer, Philrealty is fasttracking the completion of the second of five towers to rise at the P25 billion Andrea North in New Manila, Quezon City.

Alcid said while major real estate companies are aggressively building their presence in the Makati and Ortigas business districts, the company believes in the potential of Quezon City, the largest city within Metro Manila.

Quezon City, Alcid noted, has the highest underserved market in the country.

Alcid said the company would need about P700 million to complete construction of Sky Villas, which will offer about 108 units in 31 floors and targeted for turnover to buyers in the first half of 2016. The units, with a minimum size of 200 square meters, sell for P145,000 per square meter.

He said pre-selling of the project will start today with total sales estimated to reach about P3 billion.

Philrealty also expects to unlock the values of its other properties.  It is working with long-term partners from Greenhills Properties Inc. to develop Project Cube 5th Avenue, a mixed-use vertical development that will feature retail, office, residential, serviced apartments and a hotel facility in Bonifacio Global City.

Alcid said the company also expects to begin work for El Pueblo, a 5,900 sqm mixed-use project with a retail anchor within the Ortigas business district.

Apart from these, Philrealty is looking to expand its reach geographically with plans to build township projects both in the southern and northern part of the country.