Filinvest condo rental program opens investment opportunities

CEBU, Philippines - Real estate conglomerate Filinvest Land Inc. is sharing its investment opportunities in Cebu to small-time investors through the company’s condominium-hotel project, the Grand Cenia.

“The beauty of a condo-hotel concept is that it allows people to also invest. This is (I think) one of the factors why the units of Grand Cenia sold out fast because our buyers also earn” said Filinvest vice president for Visayas and Mindanao operations Tristan Las Marias.

In a condotel investment, buyers buy the condominium units then turn this over to the hotel management for its rental program. The buyers earn from the use of their units as well as enjoy a free stay in their units for a certain period.

Owners could not anymore pull out the units they bought from the renting program if and when they decide to make it their residences.

“(If they want to live in it) they can buy the residential condominium units,” Las Marias said.

With Grand Cenia, investors could expect a 12-percent return-of-investment in the first three years, Las Marias said on the sidelines of the condotel’s topping off ceremony on Thursday.

He said 50-percent to 60-percent of the condotel’s 430 rooms were sold out in just three months after the company started pre-selling. Currently, only 15-percent of the units are still available.

Las Marias said Filinvest aims to finish the construction of the 25-story Grand Cenia (derived from the Xenia, which means the Greek goddess of travel) in December this year. The hotel will then be turned-over to Ashton Hotels & Resorts, the hotel management company tapped by Filinvest.

The P2-billion Grand Cenia is Filinvest’s second hotel project in Cebu. The first development is Seascapes, a resort-hotel with 275 rooms located in Mactan Island, which is expected to start operations in May.

“(But) this is not going to be our last development. We might invest in more buildings near malls and schools, among others. We have 10 projects already in the pipeline (excluding the projects at the SR,)” Las Marias said.

Meanwhile, the first two floor of Grand Cenia will be leased out to banks such as Filinvest’s East-West Bank. The third to the seventh floors are allocated for parking and function rooms while the eighth to the 19th floors are hotel-rooms. An additional 100 residential condominium units are housed at the 19th to the 25th floors.

Filinvest has already invested P10 billion on 10 of its projects in Cebu. These include the Corona del Mar subdivision in Talisay, Mactan Tropics subdivision in Mactan, Aldea del Sol, and One Oasis in Mabolo.