First tower topped off as Soc Land marks second year

MANILA, Philippines - SOC Land’s new condominium community continues to enjoy brisk sales since the rousing welcome it received from the property market last year. About 40 percent of the sales are local, while 60 percent are from abroad, mainly overseas Filipino workers in Singapore, the Middle East, and Europe. This was revealed during the topping off of the first out of four tandem buildings at Anuva in Muntinlupa City led by South China Resources (SOC) chairman Edgardo P. Reyes. The event coincided with the second anniversary celebration of SOC Land, a wholly owned subsidiary of SOC and developer of Anuva.

Guest of honor was Deputy Secretary General of United National Alliance Nancy Binay-Angeles who recounted accompanying her father, Philippine Vice President and housing czar Jejomar Binay, around the country to address housing issues. She reported that the backlog stands at 3.6 million units as of the last census and commended SOC Land for helping government close the gap by creating affordable solutions that improve the lives of Filipinos and the economy. It was Binay-Angeles’ father who attended the groundbreaking of Anuva in July 2011, the first and only groundbreaking function he attended.

The Puyat-Reyes group helms the conglomerate that has been supplying the country’s construction industry for a century through Puyat Steel, International Pipe Industries Corporation, and Puyat Flooring. SOC Land chairman and CEO John P. Reyes explained, “We are new in the industry as far as property development is concerned pero madami na kaming kalyo sa construction industry.”

Total investment in the residential project is pegged at P2.5 billion, boosted by substantial liquidity coming from non-core business divestments and land banks in high-demand real estate locations. SOC Land is meeting competitors head on, wanting to “show a different product in the midst of products that look the same” and provide families an opportunity to make “a new beginning,” which is what Anuva means in Russian.

Anuva has a different set-up from what buyers will get from other condo developments in the South Expressway area and elsewhere in the country. The units are square-shaped, and in terms of layout alone, this allows for more “living” in the living space.

The company is the first to offer a laundry area in all the units including the studios, something a working household requires but is usually not designed as part of the units belonging in the middle-income range.

Besides the topping off and similar key junctures in Anuva’s project development, “I think we’ve also achieved one of the other targets that we have; it’s that we wanted a better product for the clients in general, not just our clients,” said JP Reyes. “I don’t want to say “raised the bar” (but that) we have given them awareness of what they can have for the amount of money that they spend.”