THE sub-prime mortgage crisis may be wreaking havoc on the real estate market in the United States. But in the Philippines, there has been relative calm, and the country’s largest property developer is going full speed ahead with its high-end projects in the Visayas and Mindanao (Vismin).

Last Oct. 10, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) held the groundbreaking for the chapel of its Alegria Hills high-end development in Cagayan de Oro City.

“Phase 1 of Alegria Hills has 95 lots, of which 30 have been sold,” Ayala Land vice president Francis Monera told Sun.Star Cebu.

Alegria Hills, which is located 10 minutes away from Cagayan de Oro’s Limketkai Mall and major business district, is a development project of the Vismin group of ALI with the Murillo and Boniao families under The Promenade Landholdings Inc.

The property straddles three barangays, namely Indahag, Macasandig and Kamaman-an.

Ongoing

The entrance gate to the property has been completed, and work is ongoing on the underground utilities, said Jeanette Japzon, corporate communications supervisor of Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), which is part of the Ayala Vismin group.

The Chapel in the Grove will be the first vertical structure on the project, she said, aside from the gate. The clubhouse may follow.

The residential project, perched on a highland plateau overlooking the Macajalar Bay, encompasses 53 hectares.
Another project

Beside it ALI will build a middle-income project, which has yet to be launched, he said.

ALI’s high-end projects like Alegria Hills in Cagayan de Oro City and Amara in Catarman, Liloan, Cebu have the stamp of the Ayala Land Premier brand.

Over in Negros Occidental, ALI is now on the third phase of another project in the premier category, its Ayala North Point located in Talisay City.

That project is now on its 11th year, said CHI’s Japzon.

Adjacent to it is the Plantazionne Verdana Homes, which carries the Verdana brand, the brand for ALI’s middle-market residential subdivisions.

The fourth phase of this project was launched last May, said Japzon.

The two Talisay City projects are located “in the flatlands,” she said, “with a river between them.”

Talisay is about five minutes away from Bacolod City. (CTL) - Sun.Star Cebu