By Arra B. Francia
AYALA LAND, Inc. (ALI) will be launching residential developments in its P11-billion tourism estate in El Nido, Palawan during the second quarter of 2018, as it nears the completion of the first phase of the property this year.
Lio Tourism Estate, a 325-hectare integrated community in one of the country’s leading tourism locations, will see mid-rise leisure condominiums by Ayala Land Premier and Alveo next year after it the finishes the construction and opening of hotels by December.
“(Lio) is composed of hotel and resorts, lodging, residential, commercial, retail, amenities, and facilities that will turn it into an integrated resort community… So we’re basically building an entire town,” Lio Project Development Head Mabel Reyes said in a press briefing in the estate last Friday.
The first of five phases of Lio’s development covers 20 hectares of land, which includes roads from the estate leading to the national highway, the airport terminal, seaport, three hotels, and a brand under ALI’s hotel arm, Seda Lio. ALI has so far spent P2 billion of the total capital expenditure for the initial phase.
Lio started operating the airport terminal adjacent to the resort last April. Casa Kalaw, a 42-room hotel that caters to families due to larger rooms compared to others in the estate, started operations in 2016. The 20-room Balai Adlao targeted toward young professionals and couples is expected to open within the year alongside Hotel Covo’s 20 rooms that attract European tourists and millennials.
Meanwhile, Seda Lio is set to open by December with a total of 153 keys.
By the time Lio is completed in 2022, the estate will have a total of 1,000 keys, from the current inventory of 213.
All hotel establishments in Lio consist of only two to three floors, as part of ALI’s goal of preserving the tree canopy in the area.
“Either you arrive by plane or you arrive by boat we don’t want you to see any of our roofs. We just want you to see the beach, the water, the sand, and the trees popping out of the forest… Keep everything within the treeline,” Javier D. Hernandez, chief operating officer of Ten Knots Development Corp., the operator of El Nido Resorts, said during the press briefing.
For the commercial component of the estate, ALI will be leasing out a total of 3,000 square meters (sq.m.) to both Manila- and Palawan-based merchants. Lots range from 800 sq.m. to 2,600 sq.m., with an allowed building footprint of 60% of the parcel, as well as a 12-meter height limit.
Merchants can also establish their own bed-and-breakfast (B&B) developments in the commercial areas, as Mr. Hernandez noted that the Ayala group’s three hotels would not be able to accommodate the tourists coming in the area once the estate is in full swing.
Lio will also be developing Kalye Artisano, a portion of the estate that will offer 1,500 sq.m. of leasable space to artists for them to have a space to showcase their art, as well as for them to develop B&Bs.
“That’s one little special zone within Lio, wherein it will actually look and feel very different from the rest, because they’re all artists and their personalities will come out in their B&Bs as well as in the products that they will sell,” Mr. Hernandez said.
Kalye Artisano is expected to be completed by December this year.
