High profile stakeholders discuss investment hotspots outside Metro Manila at REIF 2021
With an incredible lineup of some of the most inspired speakers of the real estate industry, the Real Estate Investment Forum 2021 (REIF) staged its 4th edition of this yearly event.
Hosted by the charming Ivyreene Calderon, or “Ice”, as she likes to be called, the event endured over 2 hours and was partnered by Lamudi Philippines and Realestatenews.ph. In fact, Kenneth Stern gave the audience insightful data about what is hot in the property searches right now and what trends can be seen in the listings of residential and commercial properties in Metro Manila and outside in the provinces.
There truly seems to be a push away from the Metro City towards “greener pastures” and vacancies in both office space and residential condos in NCR have gone up. Rowena Natividad from IWG talked about the changing landscape within the office segment and how businesses are trying to adapt to the disruption of the pandemic. She highlighted how there is a general search for smaller spaces and a surge to form smaller teams and use shared workspaces that allow employees to stay nearby their homes.
Work from home and work near home seems to be the trend hereby. Her “15-minutes-city” concept explains this all wherein she idealizes the idea of living and working within a radius of 15 minutes either by foot or bicycle. Andy Manalac, Chairman of Havitas Developments and Founder of Realestatenews.ph, listed the locations that have been targeted by savvy investors around Metro Manila and identified areas like La Union, Clark, Tagaytay, Batangas, and Sto Tomas as some of the hotspots of investment for escaping Metro citizen. With schools closed and the “work-from-home” arrangements, many have in fact chosen their second homes or leisure homes as their primary residence over the past 16 months.
A refuge away from the Metro. Architect Romolo Nati in fact underlined how the same condo lifestyle can be enjoyed also in the nearby province like Sto Tomas where his company, Italpinas Development Corporation (IDC), is building a green mixed-use building right at the Sto Tomas exit of the South Luzon Expressway. Also, Architect Nati said how properties along the North/South corridor have enormously gained in popularity in the case of Sto Tomas it takes only 40minutes to travel to Makati. ‘Miramonti Residences’ first phase is currently under construction and features 23 floors of a modern condo lifestyle with passive green design features. His legacy with sustainability was carried forward from his previous projects in Cagayan de Oro, Primavera Residences, and Primavera City, the latter in its 2nd phase of construction, and both popular landmarks of Uptown CDO.
Miramonti Residences is the perfect example of living surrounded by green areas, away from the buzzing city but still be able to enjoy the lifestyle and the amenities of the city condos. Another speaker, Architect Cathy Saldana, a very popular figure within the architecture community in the Philippines, discussed the architectural role to adapt to these new trends. Open spaces and a sustainable approach with nature as the common denominator are being seen more and more especially in provincial areas.
She has a big bet on the Clark area for future investments as she can see infrastructure moving along with the expansion and development of this very interesting area driven by economic factors and a general push out of Metro Manila. The last speaker, ICCPI Vice President, and Real Estate Marketing expert, Lorens Ziller, talked about the great reset for real estate and how certain trends have dramatically been accelerated like the use of technology, the migration towards greener areas out of the Metro, and a more sustainable approach to real estate and community development. He noted that to attract investments the Philippines needs to be even more competitive compared to its neighboring peers and that it is not enough to focus on retirees as it is business that drives business. Therefore attracting entrepreneurs and giving them the chance to own their companies and eventually, real estate will be the key to unlock great potential.
Ultimately, he concluded, real estate marketing has transformed through technology and social media and has become more of branding with the project, the developer, and its CEO at the center.
That is why “Thought Leadership” has risen dramatically as a winning marketing tool for its clients not only in the Philippines. The event concluded with a short Q&A that offered the opportunity to several attendees to ask their questions. For those who missed it, the event will still be available on the Facebook pages of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the Infrastructure and Construction Focus Group, and on the Youtube Channel of Focus Philippines.
