The recent global pandemic changed many consumers’ views on how they will live in the future. They have become more thoughtful and selective in their decision-making, giving preference to brands they trust.
Buying patterns are also changing as consumers shift from discretionary spending to essentials, and it is likely to stay that way as the finances come under pressure due to domestic and global economic trends.
Companies today have realized the changing buying patterns of consumers, and they are instituting corporate reforms to be aligned with the prevailing consumer preference.
In the highly competitive real property market, one company that is aligning its operations to suit consumers’ changing purchasing decisions is Citi Global Realty and Development, Inc., a leisure-type property developer.
Citi Global is currently undergoing an organizational transformation to become a more customer-centric and people-oriented organization.
‘Affordable’ leisure properties
Citi Global made a name by providing ‘affordable leisure properties’ to its target clientele – mostly overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in search of their dream vacation house.
“Our target markets are the middle-class, particularly OFWs in North America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, working as healthcare professionals, service professionals, and seamen,” said Beth To, Managing Director of Citi Global.
In the past, it was widely believed that leisure properties were only for the affluent class of society. Citi Global wanted to disprove this misconception, putting its best foot forward to build and offer a quality house and lot project in Metro Tagaytay, Tagaytay Fontaine Villas (TFV).
Citi Global placed an affordable price tag on the single-attached units and marketed the property not to the usual upper-scale rich, but to Filipinos abroad.
Investing in the future
Inspired by the positive market feedback of its Fontaine development, Citi Global developed another project, this time a condo-hotel (condotel) development, Tagaytay Clifton Resort Suites (TCRS), which again targets the middle class.
What makes Citi Global’s condotel concept unique is that instead of just selling properties to OFWs, they are providing an opportunity for them to invest in their future.
Citi Global’s condotel units start at P2.8 million. Once completed and operational, owners can have their units managed and leased out by Citi Global’s partner hotelier, Horrigan Hospitality Services, Inc. Unlike time-share schemes with limited redemption periods, the condotel allows investors to own their units and enjoy a free stay for a few nights per year.
Unit owners are encouraged to enroll their unit(s) in a hotel pool, thus the condotel concept allows them to earn passive income through dividends from the hotel operation.
This is the reason why one of the famous celebrity endorsers in the country, Vic ‘Bossing’ Sotto, chose to endorse Citi Global, despite being wooed by known real estate companies in the Philippines.
“Apart from owning their own homes, OFWs should also enjoy having another property that is really an investment – yung pwede nilang magamit for vacation at yung pwede rin nilang pagkakitaan. Itong klaseng money-making at vacation properties ang specialization ng CitiGlobal,” Sotto said.
Pandemic halts growth
Unfortunately, when TCRS was under construction, the country was struck by the global pandemic, forcing Citi Global to temporarily halt the construction of the condotel.
The last three years were characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent mobility restrictions, supply limitations, and inflation, significantly affecting the timely completion of TCRS as committed to unit owners.
The company also had a leadership challenge due to the untimely demise of its founder, Gary To, in 2021.
These challenges, however, did not deter Citi Global from fulfilling its commitment to its OFW customers and local clientele.
With the safety of unit owners as top of its priority concerns, Citi Global opted to redesign TCRS to comply with the real property building requirements of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
In 2022, Citi Global has partnered with a well-known architectural firm, Visionary Architecture, which ranks among the World Architecture top 100 (WA 100) list and BCI Asia’s top 10 Architectural Firms for more than a decade.
Among the property projects designed by Visionary Architecture include One Ayala, the new Carbon Market in Cebu, several mixed-used estates in Dagupan, Taguig, Clark, and Bicutan, as well as malls and residential developments for other big developers in the country.
Citi Global is also covering all construction areas to ensure that scheduled completion dates are met. It also recently engaged Moovare Management Corporation, a project management team with a proven track record in managing large-scale and complex projects such as casinos and hotels, bringing to the table the rigor, discipline, and best practices needed to lead Citi Global’s condotel project in Tagaytay.
To effectively manage its condo-hotel operations and offer world-class hospitality services, Citi Global also partnered with Horrigan Hospitality Services, Inc. (HHSI), which has an impressive portfolio of properties managed, including the chain of Acacia Hotels and The Plaza Hotels, as well as world-renowned Banwa Private Island in Roxas, Palawan.
Customer-centric and people-oriented organization
Citi Global’s organizational transformation is aligned with its business goal of becoming a customer-centric and people-oriented organization.
The company is beefing up its internal resources and investing in the right technology as part of enhancing customer care. “We believe that engaged employees are most productive, able to deliver consistent, quality service to internal and external customers, resulting in customer satisfaction,” said To.
It is also building customer relationships through various customer-centric activities under its Customer New Ownership Wonders (Customer NOW) program, including a call brigade team conducting a virtual ‘kamustahan’ (Shown in photo), Weekly Kapihan sessions where clients are kept posted on the latest developments in TCRS, quarterly project site visits and newsletters.
Operational excellence
Citi Global wants to continue building a brand that customers can trust.
It aspires to build operational excellence in the next three years, by bringing in the right talent–employees and business partners to build leisure property projects, and swiftly apply global best practices in managing its projects.
“In five years, we want to be recognized in the industry as a sustainable leisure property developer, reliable in constructing quality projects across the country while also delighting our customers,” To revealed.
