Luxury homes are in demand by high-earning Filipinos at home and abroad

High rise living changes the landscape
The spread of affluence has led to a construction boom in community developments combining quality homes with modern lifestyle amenities

Driving the boom in the upmarket housing segment of the real estate sector are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and BPO professionals. Those who left the country to make their fortune 20 or 30 years ago are now looking to come back to retire, or buying property as second homes and investments. Meanwhile, high-earning outsourcing professionals are looking for conveniently located, quality homes adjacent to leisure and lifestyle amenities.

Condominiums are springing up in all the major provinces and cities. Rental and purchase prices are rising, and vacancy rates falling. From luxury to affordable, units and suites in new high-rises are being snapped up before they are even built. Demand is being boosted by the availability of advantageous local mortgage deals.

Brittany Corporation has built a reputation as an innovative developer and purveyor of designer luxury homes in masterplanned themed communities. Its flagship developments, Portofino, Crosswinds and Brittany Bay, are inspired by the San Franciscan, Swiss or Tuscan architecture that OFWs may well have grown to appreciate during their travels abroad.

More recently, however, the company has been applying its flair for aesthetics and detail to vertical as well as horizontal development by entering the highly competitive world of high rise condominium development.

At 30-storeys, Brittany’s Mosaic development, located in the premier central business district of Makati, will be the first designer condominium in the country, a 5-billion pesos (£53.5 million) investment over the next two years. Primarily residential, the condominium will also include a mix of commercial establishments to service the needs of its residents.

“It will be the first true designer condo in the country and the first high-end condo that applies the concept of centricity, where units within the condominium are sensitively and sensibly planned with specific segments in mind,” says Benjamarie Serrano, Brittany’s President. “Not only have we poised ourselves to enter the vertical segment, we have also conditioned the company structure for growth and expansion with this move.”

Other vertical developments being undertaken by Brittany include the 38-storey Avant at the Fort, in Bonifacio Global City, and the San Francisco-inspired Marfori Residences, comprising five 10-22 storey towers, in Brittany Bay.

Another planned community developer bringing its skills to condominium projects is Crown Asia Properties. The country’s biggest homebuilder, Crown Asia were the pioneers of master planned communities in the Philippines. Over the last 10 years the company has developed more than 30 major projects, based on Italian and American styles. More than 20,000 families live in its properties. In 2006 the firm won the Gold Trusted Brand Award for Property Developer in the Philippines.

“We are first and foremost a marketing company. We know our buyers very well and we try to find solutions to their needs,” says Jerry Navarete, Crown Asia’s President and CEO. “We put every detail in our developments to make each project like a masterpiece, a work of art.”

One of its most ambitious ongoing developments is Crown Presidio at Brittany Bay, a self-contained complex of 16 condominium towers in neo-Victorian style, complemented by landscaped gardens, commercial establishments and a village centre housing leisure amenities. Another high rise development is a condominium in Manila’s university belt, just a walk away from the country’s renowned centres of learning.

According to Mr Navarete, the company will continue to seek a broader market through opening new projects and offering a more diversified range of housing, as well as through expansion of its network to reach Filipinos living abroad.