La Finca eyes Filipinos abroad

Noble House Group, a company partly owned by corporate lawyer-turned developer Mario Oreta has been aggressively marketing its first land development project in Lipa City, Batangas – La Finca Farm & Country Club – among professionals and Filipino retirees in the United States.

Through a series of roadshows, the last of which was in Las Vegas, Noble House Group discovered a huge untapped market in the Filipino-American communities wanting to save up or get financing for properties where they hope to retire in the near future.

La Finca Project Director Lisette M. Baltazar said she has been tying up with US-based groups to help them market properties they are going to develop in Lipa and other areas of Batangas and Silang, Cavite.

Baltazar said she made two roadshows in Hong Kong (August 2003 and another in May 2005), Las Vegas (May 2005) and soon in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles where huge concentrations of Filipino professionals and Filipino Americans live.

La Finca is a joint venture project among Oreta’s group (Noble House Group), the landowner, R. L. Umali Group of Companies, Leandro V. Locsin and Partners and the Planning Resources and Operations Systems (PROS) Master Planner.

La Finca, a Spanish term meaning "The Farm," is an 18-hectare project resting at an elevation of 1,280 feet above sea level, with each lot measuring 1,000-square meter (sq.m) being sold at the current price of P2,700 per sq.m.

"We started selling La Finca in 2002 and 70 percent of the lots are now sold out," Baltazar said.

The entire property will have 127 lots each measuring at least 1,000-sq. m. and the lots are either in packages of lots only or house and lots combined.

Facilities in the property include provisions for cable television and Internet access; IDD and NDD telephone lines; two deep wells and overhead tanks; main entrance (the only access to the project) with 24 hour security; perimeter fence; asphalt roads; playground and plant nursery; walkways and paths; fishing lagoon and footbridge; Israeli made greenhouse and plant nursery and produce market and farm association.

La Finca is 90 minutes away from Makati (80 kilometers) through the South Expressway (SLEX) and the new Star Tollway, Baltazar said.

When Noble House first obtained the property "through a joint venture with the landowner" it was raw with lots of coconut vegetation and rolling terrain. "As much as possible we tried not to touch the trees, as far as we can afford," Baltazar said.

Noble House also bought the right of way and had it titled so that access to the property will never be a problem for the eventual lot owners.

Of the entire estate, around 40 percent will be the developed areas for amenities like the Country Club, which was exquisitely designed by Locsin & Partners.

The clubhouse has massage gazebos, steam rooms, tennis courts, gymnasium, jogging and waling paths, an infinity and sports swimming pool plus kiddie pool, Jacuzzi, which are all beautifully surrounded by lawns and water gardens.

Aside from buying the lots, owners are required to pay club membership fees of P1,500 a month to entitle them to a continued use of the facilities and for the upkeep of the grounds and security.

Since model gardens had been worked on for the past two years, the resort farm has been selling its produce of fresh lettuce to resorts like Malarayat and Pontes Fino and even hotels in Lipa, Baltazar said.

Next to be developed by Noble House are the 30 hectare property in Silang Cavite–either as a Japanese community or retirement village for Fil Americans and pockets of properties within Lipa City, Baltazar said.

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La Finca Farm & Country Resort
10F DPC Place Bldg.
2322 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City
Telephone: 8898588/ 889-9999