Federal Land partners with foreign property firms

MANILA, Philippines – Federal Land Inc., the property developer of George Ty’s GT Capital Holdings Inc., has partnered with foreign property companies for several projects in its key developments in the Bay Area in Manila and in Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, its top official said.

In an interview, Federal Land president Alfred Ty said foreign property companies have decided to partner with them because there is now renewed interest in the Philippines among foreign investors with the economy now back on the sweet spot.

“There’s a lot of confidence now because of all the (economic) growth, the young population and the new administration. There is confidence and there is that go signal to come to the Philippines. Many of them did not even consider us before,” Ty said.

As such, the company is in talks with “two to three” foreign partners and expects to sign the deals before the end of the year.

“There are a lot of exciting discussions in property development. There’s a lot of foreign interest to join us and type up…unlike other developers, we have a more open mind about ventures because we like to introduce innovations,” Ty said.

The joint venture deals will be on a “per project basis” and the projects will cover both residential and commercial developments.

Ty said the foreign partners want to get into Federal Land’s projects in both the Bay Area and in Fort Bonifacio.

“They are interested in the Bay Area and then everybody wants The Fort but land is limited and price is very high already so the Bay Area is a very attractive site,” he said.

The partnership will provide equity and technical expertise, similar to its joint venture with Orix Corp. of Japan, the company’s partner in a development project in Fort Bonifacio, which includes the Grand Hyatt Residences and Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Federal Land’s Bay Area development is a 40-hectare project, which will also have mixed use projects.

Ty said the company expects to have more launches in the second half of the year.

“We will have more projects to launch this second half. This will be in the Bay Area because that is such a big place. Each tower gets completed and then we just roll to the next one,” Ty said.

In all, Ty said the company is optimistic of growth prospects this year.

Aside from Federal Land, GT Capital’s businesses are automotive through Toyota Motor Philippines; banking through Metrobank, and financial services through Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp.

The conglomerate recently entered into a strategic alliance with the Pangilinan Group’s tollways and infrastructure conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. as it wants a chunk of the lucrative infrastructure business.