Cebu Landmasters Inc., the listed Visayas-based property developer, continues to expand its product offering and reach but remains hesitant to embrace casino operations as part of its business.
CLI chairman Jose Soberano said at the company annual stockholders meeting that while he recognizes the opportunities presented by casino operations, it doesn’t fit well with the group’s current business model even though the listed property developer has several resort developments.
“This matter of casino is something that is always going to come into play. But it will have to balance out the kind of product you want or the market it addresses,” said Soberano. He said the market the CLI wants to focus more is family-oriented development.
“We would like to have that broader market to enjoy the facilities that we are able to develop,’ said Soberano. “I understand the opportunities presented by casinos but it also delimits the functionality and involvement of other members of the family.”
Soberano clarified: “I am not saying I am not gonna ever go into that (casino operations) nor am I shying away. But the thrust has always been to involve…other members of the family, to which a multi use type development would be more to where CLI is directing its energies at the moment.”
And that approach dovetails with CLI’s plan to launch within the next two to three years a real estate investment trust that will involve hospitality and commercial assets that would bring maximum shareholder value.
Within the next three years, CLI expects to triple gross leasable space to around 110,000 square meters and have over 1,700 room keys for its hotel network that combined would provide a recurring income stream for the company.
Out of CLI’s 119 projects, 10 are hotels, 10 are for mixed-use and six are office buildings.
For this year, CLI chief operating officer Jose Franco Soberano said P27.6 billion of new projects will be launched, 48,590 square meters of additional leasable space and 459 hotel keys will be added, and P14.5 billion will be spent for capital expenditures.
CLI recently raised P4.2 billion via a preferred shares offering to partially fund the capex while P70 billion in bank lines have already been approved.
