Vista Land allots P50 B for Vista City

MANILA, Philippines - Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the country’s largest homebuilder, has earmarked P50 billion to create the biggest masterplanned community in southern Metro Manila.

The 1,500-hectare Vista City will feature numerous office towers, medium-rise condominium buildings, residential communities and commercial centers, making it the flagship project of the real estate firm of the Villar family, its top official said.

“We will be spending a minimum of P50 billion for this project in the next five years,” Vista Land chairman Manny B. Villar said in a briefing.

“I don’t think there is any project of this sort because other masterplanned communities are already far from Metro Manila,” Villar said, adding that Vista City will be the flagship project of Vista Land.

Vista City is an integrated urban development that will combine lifestyle retail concepts, prime office space, a 100-hectare university town, themed residential developments and leisure components. The 1,500-hectare community covers portions of Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Bacoor in Cavite and San Pedro in Laguna.

Villar said that 500 hectares of Vista City have been developed to date, providing homes to 45,000 residents.

Vista City is envisioned to be one of the top masterplanned community in the country, Villar said.

The listed property developer will launch this year the mall and retail component of Evia Lifestyle Center phase two, increasing the commercial center’s gross floor area by 120,000 square meters  from the current 40,000 sqm.

Villar said Vista Land will also put up eight business process outsourcing (BPO) buildings with a total gross leasable area of 290,000 sqm. in a 10-hectare lot that will be called Vista Hub, an entire district devoted to business and commerce along Daang Hari South.

Vista City will also feature a hospital, a hotel, educational institutions and sports facilities.

“This will be the main source of leasing revenues of Vista Land for the next few years,” Villar said, adding that the company is looking to acquire another 200-300 hectares of adjacent lots.

For the residential side, Vista Land is set to introduce to the market 15,000 units under the first phase, spread across luxury brand Brittany, upper middle income segment Crown Asia, middle income unit Camella Homes, and condominium builder Vista Residences.

“The aim is for Vista City to attract residents in the upper, mid-range and starter home categories, and a range of commercial locators, businesses including BPOs and information technology-heavy sectors, healthcare entities, leisure facilities, and innovative educational institutions such as corporate universities and schools for new technologies,” Villar said.

In the first quarter, the real estate unit of the Villar family said its net income improved 11 percent to P1.49 billion from P1.32 billion while reservation sales rose 10 percent to P12.94 billion and revenues climbed 12 percent to P5.44 billion. The country’s largest homebuilder will launch P28 billion worth of projects this year.

In the past 38 years, the property firm has completed more than 250,000 housing units in 31 provinces and 64 cities and municipalities around the country.