Property & Infrastructure
Filinvest Land ventures into mountain resort project
Fifteen minutes away from Batasan Road in Quezon City is a 677-hectare property that Filinvest Land, Inc. is developing, which is called "Tagaytay of the East."Located in San Mateo, Rizal, the township, called Timberland Heights, is a mountain esort project which has portions allocated for farm lots, residential areas, mixed use developments, including plans of putting up a hotel and an eco-tourism park.
In 2003, Filinvest Land started selling the farm lots to the public. Last September, the company turned over the first batch of farm lots to the landowners.
In an interview at the weekend, Albert G. Morales, said that the Mandala Farm Estate, in which the farm lots are sold, banks on purely organic farming.
"Other farm lot developments do not have purely organic farming. For Mandala, it’s all organic," he said.
The model farm of Mandala, which media representatives visited on Sunday, had a few ants crawling on the vines and vegetable patches, proof that chemical fertilizers were not used.
The farm also sells its own vermicompost, which is used as natural fertilizer, in a market inside the model farm. Officials said that weekend farmers will be assisted by Mandala in growing the produce of their choice.
A fact sheet from Timberland Heights showed that from the time the 40-hectare Mandala Estate marketed its farm lots two years ago, the company has been able to sell 99 of the 158 farm lots.
Against the total farm lots that Timberland Heights needs to sell, the 99 lots represent a take up of 62.65% in the past two years.
Farm lots, which are between 750 square meters and 1.3 hectares in size, are being sold for P800 for areas that are sloping, to P3,750 per square meter, the fact sheet showed.
Mr. Morales said for marketing purposes, Timberland Heights uses a price range of P2,550 to P3,750 per square meter.
He said the development costs of the three phases of Mandala totaled P100 million, and with a fourth phase being planned, another P30 million will be added to the development cost.
But he declined to discuss projected revenues for the project. "I suggest we deviate from discussing the financials of the project and just simply present the investment opportunity to the readers via the features, benefits and advantages of the project."
Mandala is accessible from Commonwealth Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City. It also markets the weekend homes as potential primary homes given its proximity to the largest city in Metro Manila in terms of land area.
"Its location is metropolitan or just a stone’s throw from the metropolis. No other development can ever have that advantage; well, not in this lifetime. The very high density of the metropolis will be pushing developments towards higher grounds, Timberland is the threshold to the higher grounds," Mr. Morales said.
Among the support facilities of the project are a produce market, a supplies and equipment depot, an agroforestry center and a nature park with playground.
Also part of the Mandala Estate is a residential subdivision called Banyan Ridge. Lots of 220 to 787 square meters are being sold for between P4,800 and P6,800 per square meter.
Meanwhile, Filinvest Land broke ground on Sunday for its most recent addition to the Timberland Heights township project--the Timberland Sports and Nature Club, a 15,878 square meter clubhouse that will be built over a sprawling 8.9 hectares of land that is perched on one of the property’s hills.
Elevated at 345 meters above sea level, the clubhouse, which will open in mid-2007, would have a view of the Sierra Madre mountain range and will have a spa, facilities for traditional sports and outdoor recreational activities and overnight accommodations.
Filinvest Land Vice-Chairman Andrew T. Gotianun, Jr. told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of the clubhouse’s groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday that the company is tapping the Quezon City market for the project.
Data from the Quezon City government’s website showed that the city has a population of 2.17 million, of which 32% is below 15 years old.
"Quezon City is so big, and yet it doesn’t have a development like this near it," Mr. Gotianun said.
Filinvest has allocated P600 million for the construction of the clubhouse and has started selling membership shares to the public following the issuance of a permit to do so by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company will be selling 3,000 shares that would raise P1 billion.
Filinvest officials said the company has so far been able to sell 100 shares for the clubhouse.
The clubhouse will rise up to five storeys and will have for the first phase a family restaurant with private dining rooms, pool bar, sports bar, library and public karaoke television.
Also part of the development would be a six-lane swimming pool, badminton courts, multipurpose hall, tennis courts, gymnasium, indoor wall climbing and provisions for table tennis and billiards.
A spa, consisting of a dip pool, a sauna, steam rooms and 10 treatment rooms, along with indoor and outdoor play areas for children and hiking trails and barbecue areas will also be part of the first phase of the clubhouse.
For the second phase, a function room, a bowling alley, and a hotel for overnight accommodations for club members and their guests will be constructed. Nature facilities, including camping grounds, will also be developed.
Water will be sourced from a well that is dedicated to the clubhouse.
A backup well is also in place should the primary well fail, Michelle Manzano Odulio, project architect, told BusinessWorld.
She also said that the structure of the clubhouse will be sound and that the soil has been tested for stability. "We’re pretty much confident that it won’t erode. It’s stable and we have hired architects that will look at the structural integrity of the clubhouse."
For the project, Filinvest Land tapped United States-based master planner and architect Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo and local R. Villarosa and Architects.
To capitalize on its theme of being a nature club, Ms. Odulio said that only 2,000l to 3,000 square meters of the 8.7-hectare property will be occupied by structures. The rest, she added, will be greenery.
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