The grand launch came merely five months after the two companies signed a Joint Venture Agreement in September last year.

The 22-storey residential condominium project, with a total of 694 units and 259 parking units, will rise along Jacinto Extension where the IT Center housing the Sutherland Global Services is presently located. The property is located at the heart of the city, adjacent to the Central Bank, Marco Polo Hotel and several universities.

MesaTierra is the 4th of the Cebu Landmasters’ best-selling “Garden Series” condominiums, with two completed and fully sold-out in Cebu City and one still under construction and almost sold-out for the first two buildings in Cagayan de Oro City.

Yuson attributed the aggressive interest shown by buyers to the condominium even before it has set up a showroom to the reliability and brand name already established by Cebu Landmasters, Inc. He also attributed the interest to the condominium’s location and reasonable price.

“The response is so overwhelming due to the project’s prime location; it is also priced just right,” Jose Franco Soberano, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Cebu Landmasters said.

Soberano said they only got the License to Sell over a month ago but buyers already flocked to buy the units. Most of the buyers, he said, are Davaoenos while some are Davaoeno Overseas Filipino Workers.

The MesaTierra Garden Residences offers four types of units namely: Studio A with an area of 22-25 square meters with balcony on selected units, Studio B with an area of 29.45sqm, with balcony, Studio D with an area of 33.7sqm with balcony and One-bedroom C with an area of 45.5sqm with balcony.

“The studio units are very affordable at an equity of P6,000 to P8,000 per month for 36 months,” he said. The demand was so overwhelming the only units lefts are four one-bedroom units and the rest are studio units. Each studio unit is priced between P1.6-2.5 million while the one-bedroom unit is priced between P3-3.4 million.

“We anticipated Davao City’s growing urban atmosphere,” Cebu Landmasters, Inc., President and CEO Jose R. Soberano III said. He took note of the World Bank forecast of continued economic growth for the Philippines in 2017 and 2018, and said Davao City will continue to lead the country in terms of growth with infrastructure projects like the Davao-General Santos-Bitung/ASEAN Shipping Route to be launched in April this year as well as the Mindanao Railway System.

Soberano said the progressive home city of the sitting Philippine president has become a destination center for various public and private events and projects, Homegrown yuppies and the expected influx of investors will need homes they deserve, he added.

He said they made sure that MesaTierra is accessible to main roads and public transportation and close to major establishments.

Architect Mike P. Torres of Archiglobal envisions MesaTerra Garden Residences to be eco-friendly with lots of green features. Each Mesatierra unit will come with painted walls, partitions and ceilings, vinyl park floorings, toilet and bath with complete bathroom fixtures and a kitchen sink with countertop ad base cabinet.

MesaTierra Garden Residences will have garden-inspired amenities like swimming pools, a sky garden, landscaped areas, an exercise station, fitness gym and playground. It is expected to groundbreak by May this year with a target completion before the 36 month allotted for buyers to pay their equity.

The E. Jacinto Mid-Market Condominium project is just one of the three development projects in the pipeline for Cebu Landmasters and Yuson Commercial. These companies are also eyeing the development of the Riverside Mixed-Use Project in McArthur Highway and the Times Beach Project in Matina.

The Riverside mixed-use project will include a 22-storey building that will feature BPO offices, residential condominiums, serviced residences and retail commercial buildings.

The said companies are also eyeing a major facelift of a large portion of Times Beach. The development will cover a four-hectare area which will house a 3,000-seater event center that is envisioned to be the next lifestyle mixed-use destination in the city.

Groundbreaking on May this year

The groundbreaking of Mesatierra is targeted on May this year.

Each Mesatierra unit will feature painted walls, partitions and ceilings, vinyl plank floorings, toilet and bath with complete bathroom fixtures and a kitchen sink with countertop and base cabinet. It will also boasts of garden-inspired amenities like swimming pools, a sky garden, landscaped areas, an exercise station, fitness gym, and playground.

“We wanted to create garden suites and urban living and we wanted to create a lifestyle,” Torres said.

The developers are targeting to complete the project on the first quarter of 2020 as well as the turned over of units.

Soberano said it will be a 50/50 joint-venture arrangement.

“What I get, the other group gets. I am happy to share it like brothers. I’m glad that we are partnering together with this initial venture. If we combine local expertise that we have in Cebu Landmasters is such a perfect combination to come up with this project even if we just launch it now and we’re still gonna break ground by May and I think it smells a lot of good deal already in this most progressive area in the country,” he said.

He said what attracted the developers to expand in Davao is the forecasted growth of Davao City that will continue to lead the country in terms of growth with infrastructure projects as the Davao-General Santos-Bitung/ASEAN Shipping route to be launched in April this year along with the projected Mindanao Railway System.

“We all know about the thrust being done by the present administration at the helm of this Davao-General Santos shipping route. We have heard about the Mindanao railway. We are always very proud to say that this initial project that we have is part of our successful garden series we have done three of these kind of developments two in Cebu and one in Cagayan de Oro. This is another one of those very successful in demand residential condo which put emphasis on the environment and captures that demand of preferences of the market that we are targeting,” he said.- Lovely A. Carillo and Maya M. Padillo