Man on a mission

Cathay Land president Jeffrey Ng loves to travel for a reason. He is on a mission to constantly raise the bar on property development. He picks the best concepts on land development, adopts and fine-tunes these. The result is an indelible mark, and whether he realizes it or not, his latest project, the ongoing P5.5 billion South Forbes Golf City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, could very well be the new standard with which future property projects will be designed.

Ng’s latest foray into property development in addition to his earlier projects such as the fully-serviced 35-storey apartment hotel, the Astoria Plaza Suites, in the Ortigas central business district, the Dynasty Towers in Binondo, Manila and the 77-hectare Cavite Light Industrial Park in Carmona, Cavite, is the P5.25 billion South Forbes Golf City that straddles picturesque Sta. Rosa, Laguna and Silang/Tagaytay, Cavite.

The South Forbes project incorporates the best features of renowned satellite cities such as Irvine Spectrum in Orange Country, California, the Lippo City in Jakarta, Soho in Beijing and Roponggi Hills in Japan.

"We want to come up with innovative projects and employ new strategies to continuously excite the market. This time what we’re doing is to build an integrated community built around a golf course. The idea is that you don’t have to go very far, in fact, you can just step out of your house and the golf course is just within your premises," says Ng.

The satellite city concept while widely adopted in various developed countries, is still a relatively new concept in the Philippines It involves master-planned, self-contained residential communities that are integrated into bigger establishments such as hospitals, schools, malls, office buildings, recreation centers and technology parks.

"In designing South Forbes, we wanted to capture not just those seeking second homes, but primarily we wanted people looking at our residences as permanent homes. And the amenities that we are putting up will be accessible to each other, making it easy for them to move about and enjoy what could be considered as fine and upscale living," says Ng.

Although lots at the 250-hectare enclave do not come cheap with house and lot packages ranging from P8.5 million to P9 million, Ng says buyers will eventually realize that they will actually be getting more in terms of the quality of life they are embracing.

"We are offering an all in one package. You’re not just buying a piece of lot, you are buying a way of life. Each day, residents can unwind by playing a relaxing game of gold with their friends and neighbors. There are also so many dining choices, shopping areas and educational institutions and business hubs nearby that require little commuting time which in turn, means less stress and better living," notes Ng.

Bringing fruition to Ng‚s vision is leading master-planner and architectural firm Palafox and Associates. By the time South Forbes is completed in five to 10 years, residents will enjoy houses free of constricting walls, wide open windows and porches, pocket parks, linear parks, landscaped gardens, clubhouses, sports facilities and themed residential areas such as the South Forbes Villas, Bali Mansions, Oxford Manors and Tokyo Mansions.

Within the sprawling greens will also rise the Golf View Terraces, Palazzo and Miami Towers hotels and condominiums, the Esplanade commercial area, a cyberpark and a city center.

All these will be in perfect harmony with the project’s centerpiece, which is of course, the South Forbes Gold and Leisure Club which was designed by Asia‚s leading gold course designer, International Management Group (IMG).

Ng stresses that South Forbes residents automatically enjoy free golf membership, another major attraction provided by Cathay Land to lure lot buyers.

"We are the only property developer that offers this kind of deal. Now, our market which include businessmen and executives no longer have to shell out a fortune on their homes, and then spend another fortune for a golf membership. This is tremendous value for their investment."

The 18-hole precision golf course is designed in such a way that it will reward players for accuracy, not their long distance game. This means the golf terrain can be enjoyed by golfers at all levels of play. The course is intended to be both a fun introduction to the game for beginners, while at the same time, has the potential to be exceptionally challenging for handicappers.

As a sweetener, the IMG stamp on South Forbes members will give them access major golfing events marketed by IMG worldwide on an annual basis such as the British Open, the Bay Hill Invitational and the Johnnie Walker Classic.

IMG executives are also seriously exploring the possibility of South Forbes members automatically gaining admission to the IMG Sportsclub which is IMG‚s prestigious reciprocal access program. This program grants members of these 42 clubs worldwide, to play at South Forbes at appropriate times and rates. It also gives South Forbes member-residents to try out and play in other IMG-branded golf courses around the world.

With all these facilities are taking shape, Ng has his hands full. On top of his tasks as Cathay Land’s president, he also leads his family-owned Cathay Group of Companies that his father, Ambassador John K.C. Ng founded. These include Eurotiles Industrial Corporation, Cathay Metal Corporation, Amalgamated Iron Works, Ceramic Plaza, Federal Hardware, PC Express and Cathay Farms Development Corporation.

Just like his father who cast his lot on building a steel manufacturing plant in his 20s, Ng is not averse to taking on new challenges. By far, his biggest risk could be considered the South Forbes Golf City.

Ng is building at a time when there is so much political and economic uncertainty. This often discourages consumers from investing in properties because they prefer to keep their money or invest it abroad. But Ng sees things differently.

Interestingly, Ng has set up marketing teams in key cities overseas where there are large Filipino communities.

"This is actually a good time to be buying properties because interest rates are still low while overseas Filipino workers‚ remittances, particularly the professionals, are spent on finding better-planned residential enclaves. This is also one market that we are nurturing," explains Ng.

While focusing on South Forbes these days, Ng says he will constantly be on the road discovering new living concepts abroad that he wants to incorporate into his future property projects.

"During the course of my travels, I meet a lot of people in my field and I also meet many Filipinos working abroad who tell me that they want to go back to the Philippines. But not to their old homes, they want to go on living in environments that they are experiencing abroad. And that is what I intend to do, provide them with the kind of living spaces that they have already gotten accustomed to."