Developer assures to deliver condo, housing units on time

CEBU, Philippines - Sta. Lucia Land Inc., the condominium development arm of real estate giant Sta.Lucia Realty Development Inc., is fast tracking the completion of its condotel and residential project in Punta Engaño, Mactan island.

Located within the 15-hectare Discovery Bay seaside subdivision project of the company, the scheduled turnover of the total 288 units of Arterra Residences is right on track, 180 of which are condotels while 108 units are residential.

The 20-story development is targeted for completion by first quarter of 2017, said the company's sales and operations officer in Cebu, Mae N. Lalu.

Under Sta. Lucia’s condotel concept, unit owners may take their vacation any time for up to 30 complimentary room nights per year, transferable, across all Sta. Lucia hotels and condotels nationwide.

This project joins few of the developers'  move to capture the high-end and discriminating affluent market all over the world seeking for alternative resort-living and vacation homes in tropical countries like the Philippines.

Lalu observed that aside from the strong interest from local buyers, the development is also gaining favorable attention from the foreign nationals, especially Japanese.

She said there is a growing number of Japanese condo property buyers, most of them if not all are paying in cash.

About 85 percent of the project's buyers are foreigners, Lalu said.

Other Sta. Lucia condotel projects currently operational are Sotogrande and La Mirada in Mactan, Cebu; Splendido in Tagaytay City; and La Breza in Quezon City, with projects lined up in Davao City, Fairview and Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City, Iloilo City, and Cainta.

The condole units will be placed under the management’s hassle-free rental program initially for 15 years. Experienced hotel managers and staff will operate and manage the condotel and take care of maintenance as well as taxes, eliminating the traditional lessor-lessee issues.

Sta. Lucia’s Property Management group has also tied up with popular booking sites Agoda.com, Booking.com, Expedia.com, Orbitz.com, Asiaroom.com and Hotels.com, assuring unit owners of steady income through rental revenues within the contract period, with a high return on investment.  (FREEMAN)