RLC plans Fort Boni development
An article published in The
BusinessMirror, April 24, 2006
Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm
of the Gokongwei-controlled JG Summit Holdings Inc., is planning to acquire
a property in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig as a new site for its residential
project.
In an interview, RLC general manager for high-rise buildings division Danilo
Ignacio said the company is now in talks with a private group for the
purchase of a land, which he said, is adjacent to the site where the NBC
Tent is located.
“We cannot divulge other details because negotiations are still ongoing. But
we hope to finalize the deal within this quarter,” said Ignacio.
RLC, he said, would most likely call the project as The Fort Residences.
The purchase of the new property would most likely be financed by the
P2-billion capital expenditure the company has set aside this year for
landbanking.
Last week RLC launched Otis 888 Residences, a three-hectare gated
residential community and upscale development consisting of about 200
townhouse units.
The new project is located in Paco, Manila, which used to house the Manila
Gas property auctioned by the government last year, and which RLC won.
Ignacio said the new venture primarily caters to the Filipino-Chinese living
in the Binondo Chinatown and nearby areas.
“We aim to address the growing needs of the expanding Fil-Chinese families
in the Binondo area who require bigger living space. It will consist of a
mix of three-bedroom and four-bedroom units with floor areas of 138, 168 and
188-square meters. Units range from P6.6 million and above,” Ignacio said.
Apart from the residential component, RLC would also build a shopping mall
in the area.
Meanwhile, Universal Robina Corp. (URC), another JG Summit Holdings
subsidiary, plans to spend P2 billion in expanding its sugar production to
benefit from rising prices of the sweetener.
The expansion, to be completed by November next year, will almost double
URC's sugar refining capacity to 32,000, 50-kilogram bags a day, and raise
its milling capacity by more than half to 26,000 tons per day, president
Lance Gokongwei told reporters Friday.
Higher output may allow URC to boost sales outside the company. Last year it
produced 200,000 tons more than it used for its own business, Gokongwei
said.
URC makes snacks and other food products in the Philippines and six other
Asian countries.
“We're quite confident that revenue from sugar sales will grow stronger this
year because of higher prices,” Gokongwei said, without giving a sales
forecast.
The company plans to expand current refining capacity of 17,000 50-kilogram
bags per day by 15,000 bags, Gokongwei said. The company plans to expand
current milling capacity of 17,000 tons per day by 9,000 tons. Honey
Madrilejos-Reyes and Bloomberg.