The partnership that will develop what used to be the 22-hectare golf course into a world-class township is planning to borrow about P2.5 billion to complete the first phase of the project by 2022.Jose R. Soberano III, chair of the YHEST Realty and Development Corp., said the company has the muscle to fund the first phase of the Davao Global Township project which has an investment tag of about P10 billion, less than a third of the entire P33 billion investment for the 15-year project.
The company, which held the groundbreaking for the project about four months ago, is a joint venture between Soberano’s Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) and the landed clan of the Yuson, Huang, Tan, and Villa-Abrille.
“Right now, we have enough funds,” said Soberano during the launching Friday of the project even as he confirmed that lending institutions have extended proposal to the company so they can provide additional fund for the project.
“There are those (lending institutions) that are knocking on our doors. But since at this stage we have yet to need more funding, we are just doing our internal (funding) generation. We will have enough time (to secure more funding),” he added, pointing out that the company is still in its land development stage of the area which is just at the back of the house of President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
He also pointed out that the company is also continually buying adjacent properties as it wants to expand the project to 30 hectares.
The first phase, based on the company’s report, will have a corporate center, two premier residential towers, a retail strip with a Cineplex, outdoor retail strips that will be called DGT Township, and a civil center that will be named DGT Gallery.
The company is also setting up a one-hectare park that will be opened for people of the city, said Jose Franco B. Soberano, CLI chief operations officer and son of the company chair. The park, the younger Soberano pointed out, is a “commitment of the company for the people of the city.”
In terms of the height of the buildings, the younger Soberano added that the company will abide by whatever are the laws of both the city and the national government.
On the other hand, the company is also finalizing its memorandum of agreement with the Dela Salle University as the educational institution is set to set up a graduate school in the property, said Frederick H. Yuson, company president.
“We will be offering a part of the (corporate) building to the La Salle education,” said Yuson as he pointed out that most members of the clan are alumni of the university.
Soberano, the COO of the CLI, also pointed out that the company will be generous in its project as it will set aside 40% of the total area into an open space to provide a breather to the project.
“It’s a very generous ratio (in terms of open spaces and the buildings) and it is going to rival the other developments,” he said.
The partnership has also two other projects, the first being the MesaTierra condominium, and the other the Paragon Davao, another mixed-use project that will house the Citadines Paragon Davao, a high-end hotel, as well as the One Paragon Place, a condominium which it reported as 75% sold.
