Duros Group earmarks P2 billion for 2023 projects

CEBU, Philippines —  The Duros Group of Companies, through its real estate development arm Duros Land Properties Inc., has earmarked at least P2 billion for 2023 for the construction and development of new residential and tourism-related projects across Cebu province.

In an interview with owners Rafaelito and Fe Barino, the couple expressed heightened optimism on the economic recovery, particularly in the real estate and tourism sectors.

“We believe that our economy is on the rise. We have seen that it is already happening,” the couple said in an interview.

The Duros Group is the developer of big-ticket developments all over Cebu, including 23 Minore Park, a two-hectare integrated facility located on the former grounds of St. John XXIII Seminary in Mabolo, a P25 million project that now hosts the Landers Superstore, and the newly opened Cebu Quincentennial Hotel.

It also developed the International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) Pavilion, the main event venue of the 51st IEC held in Cebu in 2016.

The company, according to Rafaelito, is banking on revenge spending, and revenge travel, which are already apparent as early as 2022.

Specifically, the company’s estimated P2 billion capital expenditure for 2023 will fund site developments for the expansion plans of its hotels and residential projects. Moreover, the company also hinted about new projects within 2023 by utilizing its close to 400 hectares landbank.

For residential projects, the company is bent on offering lot-only units, believing that this particular segment is still underserved.

Fe explained that the pandemic led the market to look for big residential properties, preferably quite far from urban areas as more and more have learned to appreciate countryside living.

In fact, the company’s 80-hectare Lataban Estates, located in barangay Lataban in the municipality of Liloan, Cebu, is in full swing. The master-planned, fully integrated lot-only project, is so far the biggest in its residential portfolio. Lataban Estates will have a Sakura boulevard, an Orchard forest, pocket parks, a clubhouse, and several lagoons, just a few features of the ideal new normal kind of living.

The couple said that one of the testaments of their confidence in robust lot-only residential project demand is the P100 million sales the project registered as of November 2022, only days after the release of its license to sell.

Next to the promising residential development, the company is also bullish on tourism-related business growth, as it joins other capitalists who also are preparing to catch up with the positive effects of the revenge travel phenomenon.

Duros Group’s One Tectona Hotel is set to open this month (January 2023). This is the flagship property of Duros Hotels, which is an upscale brand located in Yati, Liloan, Cebu. One Tectona Hotel is the tallest building so far being built in the town with 14 floors. It is also the first four-star premium hotel in the Northern Cebu area.

Likewise, Duros Group is preparing its 18-hole Golf Course to re-capture foreign golf enthusiasts, especially the Japanese.

Rafaelito highlighted Cebu’s potential in sports tourism, adding that the 65-hectare Golf Course’s all par-72 will be playable by the first quarter of this year.