Newbie real estate developer, First RGP Land Development Corp., presented last week its first low cost housing project worth P470 million in Naic, Cavite.
Resty Perez, a former business journalist, now a successful public relations consultant-turned-real estate entrepreneur, took local media on a tour of the five-hectare property in Naic, where his housing project was laid out, all of 1,180 units, priced at P400,000 for a 30-square meter unit, payable in 30 years.
In a speech to beneficiaries from various Metro Manila waterway communities, Perez, who is First RGP’s chairman, promised to venture into more socialized housing projects in a bid to “change the mindset of other property developers who center their businesses on gaining profit.”
Speaking to the Manila Standard, Perez said he and his family are content to be part of a program to house the poorest of the poor of Metro Manila, and save them from the dangers of floods when the typhoons come.
“The feeling of seeing so much good and trust being passed around is a reward in itself,” Perez said. “It proves that we can dream, and make that dream come true if we work together. And working together, unity, is my message to our beneficiaries.”
Perez said his recent project’s beneficiaries would enjoy flexible payment terms as they are only required to pay P803 a month, which will increase by 10 percent every year, to be paid to the Socialized Housing Finance Corp.
“The government bought the land and provided funds for the construction. Now, the beneficiaries will be the ones to pay to the government,” Perez said.
More in the pipeline
Construction of the project took about a year, and units are set to be turned over in the next few weeks.
“Hopefully, turnover will be on the second week of November. We’re just waiting for some documentation requirements,” Perez said.
Meanwhile, already in the pipeline is the construction of second socialized housing project worth P540 million in Bacoor.
“It would take about a year before we can start with the construction of the Bacoor project and another year to complete it,” Perez said.
He said the company is also set to spend around P850 million for the development of another seven-hectare property in Naic.
“It will not be for socialized housing, it’s for the open market, thus it will be an economic housing,” he said.
The project would involve a total of 400 units priced at P750,000 each and would cater to the employees of the local government of Naic.
Sustainable living
Aside from the flexible payment schemes of the newly-finished Naic project, Perez said another advantage of the site is its location, since it is one kilometer away from the Cavite Technopark developed by Laguna Technopark Inc., a joint venture between Ayala Land Inc and Mitsubishi Corporation.
Perez noted that this provides the beneficiaries of the socialized housing project with jobs.
“ . . . that techno park will open I think next year, with job requirements as far as 20,000,” Perez said.
“We’re a new company,” the fledgling real estate businessman said. “But we’d like to change the thinking of the business community, that in this kind of endeavor, we do the exact opposite of the conventional wisdom of maximizing profits.”
Perez noted that property developers must work together and produce socialized housing projects in order to help solve the growing 5.7 million housing backlog.
Bullish on real estate
Perez’ gameplan for First RGP Land Development Corp. is for it to continue being a flexible real estate company. “We have various levels of houses. We have the socialized housing, which is a special project of ours But also in the pipeline are vertical projects, where we will target a different market,” he revealed. “We also have target projects in Metro Manila, through joint ventures, so the cash out will be spread.”
Perez said the projects will be funded through a combination of equity and loans.
“There is a lot of room for additional projects, but at the high-end, there is tough competition. That’s why we are in the low-end market where there is real demand,” he said.