Winning big by thinking small

MANILA, Philippines – The art of making the pitch can only go so far without the benefit of experience. Superlatives often fall on deaf ears when unbacked by tangible evidence. That certainly applies to savvy people on the market for a piece of property or a real estate product. After all, this big-ticket item is the most significant and important of purchases one will make in his or her lifetime. This is not an opportunity to be conscripted to chance like a pair of dice at a crap table.

In a slew of value propositions, that’s undoubtedly GeoEstate Development Corp.’s most compelling one. Company chairman and CEO Francisco Licuanan III and president and COO Miriam Katigbak alone account for six decades of cumulative experience in real estate. And if one counts the other executives the two have surrounded themselves with, the total swiftly rises to an excess of 100 years. “Even if GeoEstate is eight years old, we’ve done a lot put together,” shares Katigbak in an exclusive interview with The STAR.

It would be impossible to take full stock of just what Licuanan and Katigbak have collectively done throughout their career – much of it spent working for premiere real estate developer Ayala Land (ALI).

Under their stewardship, ALI raised the standard of living not just in the more rarefied price points, but throughout erstwhile underserved markets of mass and middle. Much of what we see as developments in residential, commercial, and office spaces can be in one way or another traced back to their vision and efforts.

No one was surprised when Licuanan eventually found his way back to real estate after leaving ALI in June 2004, or that Katigbak joined him shortly thereafter. In a manner of speaking, there is still lots of magic to create, even as Katigbak explains that the vision for GeoEstate is Licuanan’s.

“I came in as in as a loyal employee and friend… In the industry of real estate, there are a lot of big players. But on the hand, there are a lot of land owners who have small holdings. Sometimes a thousand square meters; sometimes several of those,” she says.

While once they involved themselves in the biggest of projects, these days Licuanan, Katigbak, and company fully embrace GeoEstate’s status as boutique developer – working on the premise that there’s a glut of untapped land out there, waiting for developers with the patience and vision – not to mention agility – to take advantage. There’s no need to think big; only to think imaginatively.

“We would like to think that because we are small, we are agile. We can be more creative. We don’t carry the overhead of big developers. We are not a public company, so we don’t have the pressure of a yearly net income profit. It’s essentially his (Licuanan’s) company so if he’s willing to get a smaller return, then he gets a smaller return. It’s that simple.”

The simplicity has allowed GeoEstate a more relaxed gait and pace – which redound in benefit to customers. “Because we are small, we truly, truly put in smaller touches to our projects. We do not cookie-cutter projects because we are small, we have the time. We would like to do projects that we can proud of forever, as long as the building is standing up. Even FHL (Licuanan’s initials) goes into the very detail of even measurements of a room. And we believe that makes us stand out from even the other boutique developers,” she continues.

This winning paradigm and mindset has been put to good use in Sonria, GeoEstate’s newest residential building project ideally located in the heart of Madrigal Business Park in Alabang, Muntinlupa. “I know that building by heart,” Katigbak shares. “I know what it looks like, I dream about it at night. I know what the mirror looks like, I know what the bathroom looks like.”

In a real way, GeoEstate is affording Licuanan and Katigbak a chance to revisit the earlier, more halcyon days of their careers where they had both had luxury of time to slow down and savor the experience of involving themselves directly in a project.

For Sonria, GeoEstate partners with the Montinola-owned Stonebridge Corp. which acts as property owner and developer. The 21-storey, 88-unit vertical community is envisioned as an “ideal home for traditional Alabang residents, empty nesters, and young couples who want to live near their parents’ homes.”

Traditionally a location of choice by the rich (such as those in the gated community of Ayala Alabang), the area has steadily undergone an upswing of value. “Alabang has reached a point where it is truly expensive,” concurs Katigbak. “If you want something a bit more affordable, you have to go far. So that got us thinking. Maybe it’s really time for a condo to come into the area.”

Sonria is that elegant response that competes by being more affordable than a traditional house and lot. Again, Katigbak narrates the kind of attention to detail. “One is we decided very early on in the game that most of our units will face east, so you get the morning sun; you don’t get the heat of the west sun.” The lower zone will have seven units per floor; the higher one is more premium with only five units per.

“We made the windows very large and very high,” adds the executive. “As you face the east, and you see the sunrise, you get the view of Manila Bay on a clear day. It’s more refreshing and welcoming. We have a good ceiling height; we have picture windows all over the place... (and) there’s no wasted space at all. Every square meter is usable which, again, if you have experience with condos, that happens.” Sonria has been heartily received. GeoEstate reports steady monthly sales. Katigbak underscores: “The penthouse units with balconies have been sold out.”

Despite heartening success, GeoEstate is happy with its scale. “FHL has been quoted in the past as saying ‘been there, done that,’” maintains Katigbak. “He’s done an IPO. He’s done a public company. That is not the purpose of GeoEstate, and I personally believe that if (we wanted) a large company, then we wouldn’t have left ALI to begin with.

“If you get bigger, it will not be simple. But it does not mean we will not grow. We will grow. We will grow at a pace that is manageable. We are not in a hurry. We have not given ourselves a deadline that we have to be this big at this time. There is no pressure. We just want to grow at a pace where our value added is still there. We don’t want to lose that,” concludes Miriam Katigbak, underscoring the importance of details to the point of losing oneself in them.