Horizon 101 Developer asked for traffic plan

CEBU, Philippines - The collapsed retaining wall of Horizon 101, which is to be considered to be the Cebu City’s tallest residential condominium project of Taft Property Venture Development Corporation, is not the last problem of their construction.

This is after City Traffic Operations Management (CITOM) Chairman Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem asks for a comprehensive traffic plan before it will be given approval from the Office of the Building Official (OBO) for their locational clearance and building permit.

Before Holy Week, Jakosalem said the CITOM already received the council resolution requesting them to do a comprehensive traffic impact study on Horizons tower 2 before they would be given locational clearance and building permit.

The Taft Property has already obtained all the necessary permits and licenses from the city on tower one.

The Horizons 101, which will be built on General Maxilom Ave., will have two towers and is the company’s first venture in high-rise development. Tower 1 will have 868 units while the 46-storey Tower 2 will have 600 units.

“We are alarmed because of the prospect in the downtown and uptown area that have no traffic plan yet,” Jakosalem told The FREEMAN.

According to Jakosalem, a building that high will drastically increase traffic in an area already notorious for rush-hour jams of cars dropping off and fetching students along the General Maxilom Avenue.

Jakosalem said they are currently concerned about the worsening traffic at General Maxilom Avenue because of the many planned high rise projects there, and at Juana Osmeña and other uptown areas.

Last April 10, the excavation which is intended for tower one collapsed. This prompted Mayor Michael Rama to order the suspension of the construction.

But Jakosalem said that OBO Chief Josefa Ylanan and City Planning Development Coordinator Alipio Bacalso have yet to receive the application of Taft for the tower 2.

“But tower one already completed documents and building permit so we will concentrate on tower 2,” Jakosalem said, adding that they will wait for the building plan for Traft especially the offset from General Maxilom.

The delivery of Tower 1’s units is set in the first quarter of 2015. The construction of Tower 2 will depend on the take-up of Tower 1. The Taft Property is the developer of residential projects like Palmas Verdes, Nichols Park, Hacienda Salinas and Palm Heights.

The company belongs to a diverse group of companies such as Vicsal Investment, Inc., WealthBank, Vicsal Securities and Stock Brokerage, Inc., Filipino Fund, Inc., Prime Asia, Grand Holidays, Vicsal Foundation and the Metro Gaisano Chain of Stores, all backed by Vicsal Development Corp.

Jack Gaisano, president and chief executive officer of Taft Property, described the project as the company’s symbol of success, being the “trophy for Cebu’s skyline.” He said that Cebu’s progressive economy prompted the company to jumpstart high-rise projects here. — (FREEMAN)