Citta di Mare ‘ahead of sked’

By Katlene O. Cacho

Monday, November 14, 2011

WITH the brisk demand for reservations in Buildings 1 and 2, developers of Amalfi Oasis will start pre-selling Building 3 units in the next two months, a top official of Filinvest Land Inc. said on Saturday.

During the Citta di Mare project update report, FLI first vice president and project head for Visayas and Mindanao Tristan Las Marias said construction of Building 3 is 70 percent complete. They hope to complete the building’s structural component by the end of this month.

“The developments of Citta di Mare are way ahead of schedule given the project’s brisk reservation sales,” Las Marias said.

Architectural works are ongoing on Amalfi Building 1. FLI is targeting delivery of units in the first quarter of 2012. Building 2, on the other hand, is expected to be delivered by the second quarter next year.

“In the case of Building 3, we have not opened the units for pre-selling yet, but we might start accepting reservations in the next two months,” he said.

Premium product

Las Marias said the fast sales take-up of the units can be attributed to the firm’s innovative product.  “The Citta di Mare project is a premium product we are offering to the Cebuano market,” he said.

Amalfi Building 1 recorded brisk reservation sales of 90 percent while Building 2 is at 60 percent.

FLI started pre-selling last year. The firm hopes to get its license to sell from the Housing and Land-Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) this month. Once the firm gets its license to sell, Las Marias said they will start selling Amalfi Oasis to other areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Amalfi Oasis is the company’s first offering of mid-rise condominium units in Citta di Mare’s 40-hectare residential zone. Each nine five-storey buildings will have a mix of 150 two-bedroom units with 57 square meters of space priced at P5 million and three-bedroom units with 113 sqm of space priced at P10 million.

Las Marias said construction of the affordable housing component of Citta di Mare’s San Remo Oasis is on track and gaining popularity in the market.

Las Marias said the firm’s sales channels from Italy and Europe have been accepting reservations for the first two buildings.

San Remo offers one-bedroom (25 sqm) and two-bedroom (30 sqm) units priced from P1.8 million to P2.5 million. The firm expects completion of its Building 3 in October 2013. Another 158 mixed studio and two-bedroom (45 sqm) units in Building 7 will be turned over by July 2013.

Joint venture

San Remo Oasis and the Amalfi Oasis are part of the first and second phase developments of FLI under a joint venture with the Cebu City government.

FLI targets to turn over seven to eight combined residential buildings within the next two years.

Meanwhile, development of Citta di Mare’s seaside commercial complex Il Corso is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2013.

Las Marias said completion of the complex will bring in an estimated 36,000 sqm gross leasable area with over 200 food and beverage and retail shop leasable units.

“The company remains bullish in the Cebu market. We are committed to provide quality product and we deliver on a timely manner,” Las Marias said.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 15, 2011.