DAVAO. Filinvest Mindanao officials during the topping off 8 Spatial Davao Building 2 last February 28, 2017

DEVELOPER Filinvest Land, Inc. said it will invest an additional P5 billion in Mindanao over the next three years to expand its Futura Homes economic housing brand and Spatial mid-rise condominium developments.

New projects are expected to be launched particularly in South Cotabato and Davao City, the company said in a statement Monday, May 15.

Filinvest will also complete within this year three new office buildings, two new malls, and the expansion of its biggest mall.

With these new developments, the company said it is on track to hit one million square meters of office and retail gross leasable area (GLA) by 2019.

The new office buildings – Vector Three and Axis One in Northgate Cyberzone Alabang in Metro Manila, and Cebu Cyberzone Tower Two in Lahug, Cebu City – will provide an additional 103,000 square meters of gross leasable area, mostly for business process outsourcing (BPO) companies.

As of end-2016, Filinvest had a total of 21 office buildings with combined GLA of 312,000 square meters.

The company’s new malls are Fora Mall in Tagaytay and Il Corso Mall at City di Mare in South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City.

Fora Mall, with an area of 48,000 square meters, is targeted to open in the second quarter while Il Corso, which is situated in a 10-hectare leisure and entertainment complex along the coast of the reclaimed SRP, is scheduled to be fully operational this year.

The expansion of Festival Mall, Filinvest’s biggest mall and the fifth biggest in the country, is also expected to open before year-end.

The continued strong demand for BPO office spaces as well as the growth in sales from its residential development business have boosted revenues, the company said.

It reported a 26-percent increase in revenues, which hit P5.9 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to P4.67 billion in the same period last year.

Net income likewise increased to P1.41 billion, 7 percent higher than last year’s.

Residential revenues reached P4.69 billion, 31 percent more than the P3.57 billion posted last year. “This is attributable to the sustained sales take-up levels as well as the completion of high-rise and mid-rise residential buildings,” the company said.

More residential projects, especially those designed for the affordable and middle income markets, will be launched this year in Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Bulacan, Bacolod, Iloilo and other key locations.

As of the first quarter, Filinvest has developed more than 2,500 hectares of land and sold more than 160,000 housing units.

“We are confident of FLI’s continued growth in 2017 as we launch new residential projects that cater to our core market and complete our planned office and retail developments,” said President and CEO Josephine Gotianun Yap.

Source: Sunstar