SM Prime allots P1 B for housing venture

MANILA, Philippines - SM Prime Holdings Inc., the integrated property firm of the Sy family, is earmarking as much as P1 billion to make its maiden affordable housing foray next year. In an interview, SM Prime executive vice president Jeffrey Lim told The STAR the company is all set to go with its affordable housing venture in Cabanatuan with investments seen reaching up to P1 billion for its initial phase.

“It’s almost done,” Lim said referring to SM Prime’s acquisition of a Cabanatuan property where the group’s first horizontal residential development would soon rise.

For the first phase, Lim said 800 units would initially be offered for sale but the entire property could accommodate up to 2,500 units.

“Since it’s horizontal, you can cluster it that we launch this part first and then if the take up is good, then we can do more. That’s why we need to get a big property also,” Lim said. Lim said each house and lot would be offered at prices ranging from P800,000 to P1.2 million.

“This is a market that a lot of overseas Filipino workers will want to have,” he said.

SM Prime, through unit SM Development Corp., has long been into condominium development, but has yet to venture into horizontal development.

The housing project is expected to complement SM’s recent entry into the retail industry of Nueva Ecija’s capital.

SM Prime in March this year completed the acquisition of a community mall in Cabanatuan City which it has rebranded as SM Megacenter. Megacenter is a five-story mall previously owned and operated by CHAS Realty and Development Corp.

Likewise, the country’s largest mall developer is also set to open a large shopping center called SM Cabanatuan this year.

SM Prime’s residential unit intends to launch at least five new high rise condominiums with about 11,000 units in total this year in the cities of Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Taguig and Tagaytay, and at the Mall of Asia complex.

SM Prime will also add new towers in five existing projects that will be built to accommodate the increasing demand for housing by most Filipino households and young professionals.

SM Prime, the Philippines’ largest property firm in terms of market value, has earmarked P330 billion until 2018 for its expansion in the country and in China.