world’s away
CHIP CHILDERS INVESTIGATES THE INCREASING POPULARITY OF RESORT RESIDENCIES THAT ARE REVITALIZING THE WAY WE LIVE
Living and working in one of our big cities, life can easily become a blur of work and infamous traffic jams! We may occasionally ship off to one of the country’s world-class beaches or mountain provinces for a much-needed escape – reading this, you may be on the way to one now – but urban existence repeatedly calls us back to re-accumulate the stresses of the city.
But here’s a hot new term in the lexicon of real estate jargon to provide a solution: residential resorts.
YOUR OWN ESCAPE
The residential resort has revitalized and redefined the real estate market in the Philippines and given home buyers a few new options. Whether it is in the marine-scapes of Batangas, or the clouded rolling hills of Tagaytay, buying one of these properties, built especially for the holiday market, offers more than a second home in some of the Philippines’ most beautiful locations.
Not only do the secure resorts offer all the advantages of luxury gated communities where you check your arms and your bodyguards by the door (helpers and nannies can come inside!), but their relative proximity is key, and most are within three hours’ drive from Manila.
Increasingly, however, some owners are choosing to set up their permanent home in these resorts, and benefiting from all the associated luxuries.
CAPTURING THE ZEITGEIST
Certainly, the demand overwhelms the supply. Though property development companies have taken these trends to heart and responded to the market, Landco Pacific Corporation’s new development at Calatagan, has already sold 70 percent of their lots in Phase 1 and all of the lots in Phase 2A. With Phase 3 opened for sales last October, and Phase 4 planned to launch soon, the market is voracious.
The impressive Tagaytay Highlands, one of the first to hit the market, expanded to cater to the tremendous response from its members. Belinda Lim-Herrera, Vice President for Marketing at Belle Corporation explains:
“In 1995, we told existing members of our golf and country club that we were opening a residential area, and immediately, over 500 reservations were made for the 170 houses we had planned. What initially started as a development of 1,000 properties has now grown to 6,000.”
Ayala Land started selling lots for their exquisitely planned Anvaya Cove project in late 2005, and has already sold 200 of the 400 lots. Clearly, these housing options are resonating with the buying public.
INTERNATIONAL LIVING
The Tagaytay project ushered in over a decade of rethinking real estate divisions. Two thousand feet above sea level and perched on hills above the scenic Taal Lake with its series of volcanic craters, the Highlands was originally developed by Landco Pacific and is now fully owned by Belle Corp, which has gone on to create Tagaytay Midlands. It has tapped into the aspirations of the members – however ambitious.
“The market was looking for lifestyles they were longing to experience in other countries and had glimpsed on holidays or work trips. But with the businesses our members are in, they don’t have enough time to spend in the Swiss Alps,” explains Lim-Herrera. “People want to live in the kinds of places they’ve seen in movies and magazines, but there’s no opportunity to experience those places in the Philippines. Here, we have high areas and a cool climate, so we can choose the themes. We’re not even beholden to the usual temperature of the Philippines.”
After the first building, Belle View — a series of condominiums with an English cottage feel and unobstructed views of the lake and the golf course — the next set of properties, Pinecrest, took this international thinking to the extreme.
Modeled on a Swiss Alpine village, it’s a cluster of condos in four to 10 densities. The devil is in the details, and the apartments even have the area used in Alpine homes for storing skis by the front door. However, here, these long cupboards are home to the supply of LPG for each property.
Lim-Herrera says, “The owner could dictate themes but the architects did the research to make sure it’s as close as possible to the real thing. When it gets foggy in the December mornings, Europeans say Pinecrest captures the atmosphere of the Swiss Alps.”
For Spanish-Mediterranean-style detached homes, The Villas is the community to head for; while the most popular unit is Woodlands – luxury log homes made from solid Western Red Cedar logs. There are a host of other areas drawing inspiration from different parts of the world. One of the newest is the faming estate of Plantation Hills. Designed around the American country, the buildings are 750 square metres, on a plot of land three times the size. They have greenhouses, farming and organic gardens.
FOLLOWING THE TREND
The Plantation Hills style of “hobby farms” helps people get reconnected with nature, something that can seem very elusive in the city. Two projects to take this agro-tourism genre further are Landco Pacific’s Leisure Farms in Lemery, Batangas, and Ponderosa Leisure Farms, a flower garden residential development in Silang, Cavite.
Nature enthusiasts or weekend farmers can have lots specifically plotted for fruit or flower gardens and even have areas to sell or showcase the fruits of their labor. This is yet another hit, with the “Mountain Residential” segment growing around 10 per cent yearly, and is expected to increase in the next five years due to new land developments and expansions of peripheral areas in key provinces.
Tapping into some of the splendid views around the country, Landco Pacific has a string of projects in Nasugbu, Batangas, on the pristine waters of the South China Sea, starting with Peninsula De Punta Fuego, followed by the Terrazas De Punta Fuego, then finally the luxury condos at Amara En Terrazas. Their newest offering at Playa de Calatagan has left even their own property agents shaking their heads in amazement at public interest, with development an-unheard-of four years ahead of schedule.
Bellecorp is also planning a new development in Batangas. Called Lakelands, it will differ from Tagaytay Highlands by being more directly connected to the lake and having new amenities that move towards wellness communities.
Another development stirring up a buzz in Tagaytay is Canyon Woods Residential Resort, with its rustic log cabins and country-style homes set within pine trees and lush foliage. Its classification as “tourism-residential properties” gives an idea of the fusion purpose their entry desires to address.
Development juggernaut Ayala Land’s newest project, Anvaya Cove, south of scenic Subic Bay, opens its club doors in late 2007. “Anvaya Cove’s vision is to bring in world-class vacationing experience learning from a variety of leisure destinations abroad,” says Weng Caraso, Marketing Manager Officer for Ayala Land. “This leisure project marries the mountain and sea components, unique to Anvaya Cove and preserves the flora and fauna endemic to the place, so members can interact with nature.”
CHANGING THE WAY WE LIVE
There are several reasons why this real estate trend has caught fire. Getting out of Manila for weekend jaunts is nothing new, but a much larger number of people now appreciate the value to mind and body that these breaks offer. Having your own foothold in the country makes the process easier and forces it to be a more regular part of life.
Other property-buyers are city residents exploring a retirement option and looking for somewhere to become familiar before they make the move away from the city. Younger families are seeking a second home for the wives and kids to avoid the hassles of city living.
Another factor for the success of residential resorts is its value as an investment. Properties bought in Landco Pacific’s early Punta Fuego projects have appreciated by almost 300 per cent in the last decade, and even the new Playa Calatagan developments have seen a 15 per cent increase in value within a year.
With continued development of land and expansions of peripheral areas within range of Manila residents, property values are expected to go nowhere but up.
COMPREHENSIVE LIVING SOLUTIONS
These homes offer expansive recreational facilities to rehabilitate city-exhausted minds and bodies.
Many residential resorts have golf courses, tennis courts, massage facilities, restaurants and “gimmick areas” for those who might not be going to bed at sunset. Well-designed clubhouses serve as a focal point for social functions and activity centers add a social element such as “meet your neighbor” parties and community-minded projects.
The family is a crucial element in the mix, and there is a multitude of activities on offer which kids and parents can enjoy together. Canyon Woods includes a Campsite Pavilion with a lagoon, and Playa Calatagan has an “events lawn” for residents or businesses to use, a boardwalk right on the beach, with hikes, water sports and other outdoor sports set in the natural landscape as part of the master plan.
Developers also know what an important facet the natural environment is to their equation – Landco is planting five trees for every one they cut down, and Belle Corp has a program to turn garbage at its Tagaytay Highlands project into fertilizer for Plantation Hills. Apart from the cedar wood which is from a sustainable source, they also try to use local produce where possible, such as the leather tapestries from Baguio City.
LOCATION, LOCATION
Understandably, the lion’s share of projects are focused around the Metro Manila area, nexus of most of the country’s business interests. However, residential resorts are sprouting up in other parts of the Philippines as well.
Cebu City, a rapidly evolving business hub and “queen city of the south”, is starting to exploit its superb location and proximity to both world-class business infrastructure and dramatic geography.
AboitizLand has spearheaded several projects which showcase a new mindset in property development. Kishanta, a “Zen-inspired” living experience less than an hour from the city center, aims for the ecologically-minded, while Pristina North, with its emphasis on simplifying life in an “integrated community”, will have parks, office spaces, entertainment and commercial areas to serve its residents, who could very easily have their work, family fun and other necessities all within arm’s reach.
While these areas are still in planning stages in Pristina North, the end result could be self-sufficiency for residents, who might not have to leave their immediate area to go into the city to buy basic necessities.
With this property trend steadily on the rise, residential resorts are expected to appear in cities such as Bacolod and Davao as well. As international business picks up, residents are bound to start seeking peace of mind at home so as to ease their intense lives at the office.
FUTURE OF THE TREND
So what’s next for these residential resorts? They are a sound investment, offer a fabulous lifestyle and are close enough to the city hubs to make the permanent move towards the second home a smooth transition.
It is a wonderfully healthy and uplifting notion: Manila residents, stifled by an infamous urbanscape, rediscovering the simple beauties of their own country, spending quiet weekends with their family at the beach, hiking in the mountains, and even farming.
After all, there is no reason why we have to accept the notion that we live on the third mall from the sun. The Philippines has some of the most beautiful settings on the planet, and it is often the simplest of pleasures that make us feel most alive.
So will more and more people choose to live in these communities permanently? And what is the solution to the ever increasing demand? Only time will tell. But to make sure you have a stake in what seems to be the future, it’s obvious we too can only follow the trend.
Tagaytay Highlands
Interview with Belinda Lim-Herrera, Vice President for Marketing, Belle Corporation
Who tends to buy here?
Executives, business people and Filipinos based abroad, in places such as the US, who want to come back. They look for a home that can give them the same atmosphere and clean air that they had got used to overseas. The Highlands is a popular choice.
In the US, people are forced to retire at 60. There was a couple who had been coming back and forth for two years, looking for an ideal place to retire. They saw the Tagaytay resort sign and were intrigued. When they weren’t allowed in by the security guards, it made them all the more determined to find out more! In the US, the couple lived in Monta Ray, close to the pebble beach and where he could play golf. This was the most similar thing he could find in the Philippines.
Why is it so self-contained?
To do anything else is not an option. The aspirational people already live like this in Manila. This is a better use of resources, and we get many, many Filipino/US returnees.
Location: Tagaytag Highlands, Tagaytay City, one and a half hours from Metro Manila
Tel: (046) 413 0888
Website: www.tagaytayhighlands.com
How to join: It is a members only club and you need to be recommended or go through a strict interview procedure fulfilling various criteria, including income.
Price: Varies. Woodridge or Horizon are one of the cheaper villages. Woodlands is the most expensive, largely because of the cedar logs. Prices are PHP34 million for a two- to three-bedroom unit.
Interview with Ferdinand Sy and his family at Plantation Hills, Tagaytay Highlands
Why did you choose to become members and home owners at Tagaytay Highlands?
When we were newlyweds, somebody told my wife that Highlands has a lot of facilities to keep the kids busy. Of course we had to check it out. She was sold right away when she saw the animal farm, and I was sold when I saw the tennis courts because it reminded me of Wimbeldon.
What is special about this development?
The ambiance of the whole place is just so soothing. Since it’s a place where people can relax, even the employees in Highlands are very good-natured. Once you come into the main gate, you suddenly feel like you’ve been transported to another place. I never get tired of seeing how our guests react the first time they visit. They’re amazed with the beauty of the place.
What made you decide to live here permanently?
At first, we would come once a month. Then it became twice a month until we realized we were here almost every weekend. People would always say that traveling to Highlands is too far. But once you get used to it, you tend not to notice anymore. While we were building our house in Plantation, we realized that living here might be a good move for our kids. Where in the Metro area can you find a big place for kids to run in?
What is your favorite way to spend a day at the Highlands?
Our sons go swimming, we go to the stables and ride horses, or we go to the animal farm where he’d feed his orangutan friend “Chino” some bananas. For dinner, we usually go to China Palace — or I never hear the end of it from my wife.
Do you enjoy having friends and visitors, and showing them your incredible home?
My wife and I have said that we might have to start a bed and breakfast because our friends and family just love it here. It’s making us think that they come to visit not to see us but to use our house as a getaway place from the Manila life. My brother-in-law calls our house his rest house. It just feels good to know that they want to keep coming back because they feel very rested and happy when they’re here. What adds to the charm and serenity of the place is the fact that the club makes sure that its exclusivity is never compromised. You only see friendly familiar faces. Hence, we have the constant assurance that we are safe in our own little paradise.
Why did you choose Plantation Hills, among the other villages?
We were choosing between Plantation Hills or Woodridge, and Plantation Hills won the vote because we are a growing family and having a big lawn for the kids is better than the cold air that we would have gotten in Woodridge.
Would you recommend that more people live here permanently?
Definitely. I think living here makes you realize that you should sometimes slow down and appreciate your surroundings. It’s so nice to wake up in the morning with birds chirping by the window, It’s something that we usually would read about in children’s books, but living here we are experiencing it. Some people want to wait until they retire, but why wait so long when you have the privilege of doing it now?
Would you like to see more of these developments in the Philippines?
Of course. This type of environment definitely makes people happier.
Why do you think this type of living has become so popular?
I think people are starting to realize that having a healthy life is more important than anything else. Having your family with you is better than having all the money in the world.
Landco Pacific
Peninsula De Punta Fuego
Fact box: This is an 88-hectare, exclusive seaside residential community.
Location: Balaytigue, Nasugbu, Batangas
Website: www.puntafuego.com
Terrazas De Punta Fuego
Fact box: The complex is situated on an 800-metre white sand beach.
Location: Natipuan, Nasugbu, Batangas
Website: www.terrazasdepuntafuego.com
Ponderosa Leisure Farms
Fact box: This is the Philippines’ first flower garden community with an exotic Spanish-Mexican theme.
Location: Silang, Cavite
Website: www.ponderosaleisurefarms.com
Playa Calatagan
Fact box: 74 hectares, 64 of seaside residential subdivision.
Location: Barangay Sta. Ana, Calatagan, Batangas
Website: www.playacalatagan.com
Ayala Land
Anvaya Cove
Fact box: Now in the building phase, this new development will offer a secure place where the focus is squarely on the family. Spread across 320-hectares, 130 meters above sea level, it overlooks a 3.5-kilometer coastline and its two private coves.
Location: Subic Bay, two and a half hours from Metro Manila
Tel: (2) 728-7000
Website: www.anvayacove.com.ph
Tagaytay Grasslands Co Inc
Canyon Woods Residential Resort
Fact box: Private lots and houses 500 meters above sea level, with views over Lake Taal and the volcano. Areas include George Town, Three Lakes and Vacation Club.
Location: Diokno Highway, Bgy. San Gregorio, Laurel, Batangas
Tel: (2) 892-9827
Website: www.canyonwoods.com
Robinsons Land
The Wellington Courtyard
Fact box: A five-storey low-rise residential enclave, designed “to lure prospective home buyers who prefer taking up permanent residence in their second home.” Designed around an American courtyard, there will be a clubhouse, pools, fountains, a playground area and open court.
Location: Tagaytay City
Website: www.robinsonsland.com
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