VisMin developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) has concretized plans for its entry into Luzon with the planned launch of its first project in Pasig City, set to be launched late next year.

During a media briefing after the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting, CLI Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jose Franco Soberano said, “just a few months ago, we acquired our very first Metro Manila property, 3.5 hectares (ha) in Pasig City.

“We looked at the urban center of Metro Manila, because we see long-term opportunity,” he said, noting that, “we just saw reports that news of oversupply [of middle-income condominiums] from the 18 months is down to 30 plus now.”

Soberano explained that, “I think once the dust settles, there's still that prevalent backlog, and then we narrow it down into the specific districts that will need more of these homes. So we're really targeting the middle- to upper-middle segment for this first entry, because CLI is really very specialized in this economic to middle, upper-middle market, because we have proven our products here.”

He said that the property will be developed under CLI’s garden series or under the Casa Mira brand, although they are still in the planning stage since the property has just been acquired.

“We have one and a half years to come up with that edge. We will look for that differentiating factor in terms of affordability level. At that market segment, that's in the ₱3-million to ₱7-million range that that we are really looking at,” Soberano said.

He added that, “beyond the pricing, it's the combination of value for money, speed, technology, servicing. We want to show how we've managed to really take care of buyers.”

Soberano said they aim to maintain their high sellout rate and record-low average delinquency rate of two percent across all of CLI’s projects once they enter the Luzon market, pointing out that, “I think the buyers do their best to keep our product, because we really take care of them when they communicate well.”

Meanwhile, CLI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jose Soberano III said they are in serious negotiations for acquisitions with landowners in CALABARZON, which may be completed “in the next few months.”

He said CLI is seriously looking into that region since “there's a lot of influx of not just commercial but even industrial development” and this has attracted a lot of residential developers because of the housing requirements of the workers.

He also noted that, “there's a lot of infrastructure works going there, making it very accessible to the center of Metro Manila. So that's an easy pick.”