CEBU, Philippines – Banking on the strong potentials of Mandaue City as one of the fastest growing population centers in the province, a new player in Cebu’s real estate sector is set to open its first-ever commercial project dubbed as Bridges Town Square by the last quarter of this year.
Vivace Development Corp. chairman Eduardo Alegrado said they are optimistic that this venture will become another tourism destination in Cebu.
Vivace Development Corp. is a sister company of holding firm ECA Holdings Corp., the umbrella company of export manufacturers Wicker and Vine Inc. and Ambiente Designs International.
Alegrado said that they have decided to develop their two-hectare property in Plaridel Street, Alang-alang, Mandaue City which formerly accommodated their two furniture factories after the area has developed into a bustling thoroughfare.
The location in Plaridel Street currently serves traffic flowing to and from the North, to and from the two Mandaue- Mactan bridges, to and from the Cebu Reclamation Area and the South Road properties at the further end.
The street is also positioned to be a vital link to the North of Cebu via the Coastal Road project that will be linking Mandaue with the town of Liloan set to be open to traffic by the end of the year.
“My family’s business has been operating in Mandaue City for more than three decades now. The dramatic developments in the make up of this section of Mandaue have rendered presence of our factory there somewhat irrelevant, if not impractical. The changes made our place very viable for commercial exploitation at the present time so we have decided to change its use,” said Alegrado.
Right now, their furniture manufacturing operations have been transferred to a modern facility in Tingub, Mandaue transforming the old factory site in Plaridel into a commercial destination.
He said that Bridges Town Center was conceived to become a food and lifestyle destination designed to serve the needs of both local and foreign tourists.
“Our vision is to put together the convenience of shopping, dining and entertainment and to give people and visitors from the cities, provinces or other countries the best value for their money in a no non-sense, pleasant and safe environment,” said Alegrado.
He said that after marketing the concept for a month, their vision is also shared by several of their key locators which have responded positively to their development.
Bridges Town Center will house a large wholesale section composed mainly of veteran wholesalers in Carbon which will be called “Kumprahan” which measures 3, 500 square meters.
“With this in place, it will then be easier and very convenient for nearby resorts, hotels, small retailers or sari-sari store owners and regular grocery shoppers to enjoy great value at lower prices less the hassles and traffic congestion associated with most of our major city public markets,” said Alegrado.
It will also feature a unique seafood restaurant with a beach theme ambiance that will be owned and operated by the developers themselves which will be called as the Coconut Grove Seafood Restaurant.
Aside from these anchor stores, the Bridges Town Center will also house the Tourist Zone that will accommodate merchant locators that cater to the needs and preferences of both domestic and foreign tourists such as warehouse stores with furniture displays, hardware shops, outdoor adventure stores and there will also be a so-called Lifestyle Rows which will be consist of bars, entertainment establishments, fast food chains, coffee shops and restaurants.
Because of the slowdown in the export industry, Alegrado said that this particular business venture is also their way of diversifying their company operations to “ride with the tides” during these times of economic crisis.
“It actually takes confidence to pour in money at this time but we are quite confident that it will succeed. We have thought of this development even before the crisis started but we are glad to have done it more so with this crisis to also have a better use of our properties,” said Alegrado. — Rhia de Pablo