Discovery Group buys Palawan property, eyes acquisitions in Asia

MANILA, Philippines - Discovery Leisure Co., which runs hotels in Tagaytay, Boracay, and the Ortigas business district, has acquired a property in Palawan as part of its expansion in the country and the region. However, “no immediate plans" have been made to develop its 20-hectare San Vicente property, said John Tiu, corporate planning director of JTKC Land, under which Discovery Leisure Co. is subsumed. The company will wait until 2010 when the required infrastructure—such as power lines and airports—will be put up, Tiu said. “We are positioned there but as of now there are no immediate plans," he said. Discovery Leisure owns Country Suites Discovery Tagaytay, Discovery Suites Ortigas and Discovery Shores Boracay. JTKC Land is a closely-held corporation controlled by the Tiu family. The company is also considering property acquisitions in other Asian countries including China, Tiu said. Since the global slowdown is presenting good opportunities for the group, the company is looking at “some" hotels, resorts, and two service apartments which are already operating, Tiu said. At the same time, he conceded that the crisis also poses a challenge to the company given the anticipated smaller number of people who would spend on travel and leisure. There is “definitely a contraction" of foreign guests in local resorts and hotels and Koreans, the Philippines top foreign guests, were unable to make up for the slack during the lean season, Tiu said. Despite the slowdown, some developers are still proceeding with the construction of five-star hotels and serviced apartments, similar to what JTKC Land is undertaking with its former Gilarmi Apartments along Ayala Ave. in Makati City. The company is tearing up the old apartment buildings to give way to an 68-storey mixed-use residential building. Tiu said the building will have 86 regular residential units and four penthouses. Each unit, with floor size ranging from 380 sq m to more than 400 sq m., will cost about P50 million to P60 million. The 600-sq m penthouse units will sell for at least P100 million. The first 18 floors will be rented out as serviced apartments while the rest will be sold, he added. Companies such as Ayala Land Inc. and SM Investments Corp. will be putting up their own luxury residences and hotels in the country. But Tiu said Metro Manila still needs more four-star to five-star accommodations for foreign guests. - GMANews.TV