PHINMA Properties eyes development for squatters
Friday, 09 October 2009
EXCLUSIVE
By Chino S. Leyco, Reporter
A developer of affordable medium and high-rise condominiums plans to develop a residential project in Quezon City that could serve as a model for addressing the problem of land occupied by squatters or informal settlers.
In a roundtable interview with The Manila Times on Thursday, Willie Joven Uy, president and chief executive of Phinma Property Holdings Corp., said his company was negotiating with private landowners to develop 4- to 5-hectare property in Quezon City being occupied by informal settlers.
Instead of relocating the informal settlers outside the capital region, Uy told The Times that Phinma proposed to set aside a portion of the property for mid-rise condominiums for the illegal settlers.
Informal settlers typically refuse relocation to areas far from Metro Manila where they earn a living.
Uy said that they were inspired by a similar project in Malaysia, which was successful in addressing the housing needs of its informal settlers.
Some wealthy Malaysian landowners agreed to set aside a portion of their illegally occupied property to affordable housing, and the developer designed the project tastefully so that the owner could still put up classy projects in the remaining area, the executive added.
Uy said that Phinma plans to do the same in Quezon City as a pilot, and if successful, it would benefit some 600 families. He declined to name the exact location of the property, because Phinma was still negotiating with the parties involved.
If the project pushes through, the units will have a price tag of P6,000 a month, payable in 30 years for a 21-square-meter unit, he added.
Uy said this effort was part of Phinma’s community relations, citing “every time we start a project, the first thing we think of are the peripherals, and what will we do to the communities that surrounding us because they are the ones who might get us into trouble.”
Win-win solution
Grant Orbeta, Phinma vice president for marketing, said, “It’s a win-win solution.” He was with Uy at the roundtable.
Orbeta added that the needy gets decent housing and the property owner could earn from his property, which otherwise would remain idle while the informal settlers contest their right to stay there.
“A 21-square-meter [property] is already habitable because a typical shanty of informal settlers is about 10 to 12 square meters, and they’re paying maybe P10,000 a month. If we can offer a 21-square-meter for P6,000 a month, it’s better,” Orbeta told The Times.
“It is more than double and lower the cost,” he added.
Despite the lower cost of the project, Uy assured that the quality will not be compromised, but would be less in decorative features.
Of the total 4 to 5 hectares property, big chunk would still be reserved for customers in other market segments for the company to make money, like what was done in Malaysia, he said.
Community transformation
Uy said that foresees that the informal settlers would be transformed into assets for the future residents because they could provide services like personal care, laundry or massage. Also, he added that if Phinma provided them with affordable houses, “their loyalty will be with you because you also give jobs in their community.”
Because the deal was still under negotiations, he added that the size of land being set aside for the fordable mid-rise condominium project was not yet final. Uy also said that they were talking to owners of the other pieces of property adjacent to their project site that also has problems with informal settlers.
“Typically, in 1 hectare, if it is five-story building, our rule of tumb is 400,000 to 450,000 units per hectare but that’s a 30-square-meter a unit. If we make it 20 square meters, it will definitely go higher,” Uy told The Times.
Data from the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, showed that the Philippines is looking backlog of close to 3.8 million.
Uy said that in Metro Manila alone, the housing backlog was about 85,000. And government and private companies could only build about 180,000 housing units in a year, he added.
“There is a demand that has yet been addressed,” Uy told The Times.
Spared by storms
After the devastation of tropical storm Ondoy, he added that Phinma was spared, adding none of their projects were flooded.
Uy also said that that effect of Ondoy would be on the hardest-hit areas like Marikina, Cainta, and parts of Pasig, expecting that land values in these areas would definitely drop.
Orbeta said, “There has been a substantial increase in inquiries about our projects after the devastation. We expect that we will be on track of our sales target this year.”
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