ROBINSONS LAND CORPORATION RAISES THE SKYLINE AND THE BAR
One of the largest property experts in the Philippines
keeps a lookout for new high-rise, commercial, hotel and housing projects
Did you know that the Philippines is one of the most attractive places to buy property, delivering higher returns than in Bulgaria, Poland or Romania? In fact, it is projected that those who invest in the Filipino housing market could net up to 400 percent profit in the next ten years.
Who could be behind this real estate boom? One agent is Robinson's Land Corporation (RLC), a company whose stats speak for themselves. It is the largest landlord of office space, the second largest diversified real estate company in the Philippines, the second largest shopping center operator, the third largest residential condominium developer, the fourth largest hotel owner in the country, and the fifth in housing and horizontal developments.
RLC was originally incorporated in June 1980 to serve as the real estate arm of JG Summit Holdings Inc., a market leader in a range of industries in the Philippines. Since then RLC has evolved into a real estate giant with four major, and sometimes overlapping, core businesses.
Its high-rise buildings division is responsible for residential condominiums, office building developments and housing projects geared towards the middle to high-end income market. This branch has been a true pioneer in mixed-use developments, and has completed projects such as Cybergate Center Tower and Robinsons Summit Center.
Through its commercial centers division, RLC owns and operates one of the largest and most successful chains of malls in the country, which generate 120 million visits annually. There are 18 world-class shopping centers, including Robinsons Cebu, Robinsons Starmills and Robinsons Galleria.
The hotels division is based on a partnership between ALC and the Intercontinental Hotels Group to manage the Holiday Inn Galleria Manila and the soon-to-open Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, among others.
The housing and land development branch is known for its industrial plants and condominiums, some of which are Governors Place, San Jose Estates and Southsquare Village.
Further construction is always in the cards, and the company has earmarked P15 billion ($307 million} to be spent over the next two years, about 40 percent of which will be channeled into the development of new malls, 30 percent will go towards office buildings and residential projects and the rest is for land banking and hotel ventures.