DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. is bullish on the company’s prospects this year, the property firm sees strong demand for its hotels and industrial warehouse facilities.
Hannah Yulo, chief investment officer of DoubleDragon, said the developer is on track to meet its target of having 1.2 million sq.m. in overall leasing spaces by 2020. This includes 100 CityMalls, 5,000 hotel rooms under Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn and eight industrial projects under CentralHub.
“We’re finishing 800,000 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable space by the end of this year, and then 1.2 million sq.m. by the end of next year, which is our 2020 plan… We’re still on track to meet all of our goals and… We’re actually doing very well in terms of our yields, especially in the office, our growing retail group and industrial hub. We are seeing a lot of clients… a lot of demand for industrial warehouse facilities as well as our hotels,” Ms. Yulo told reporters after an event in Manila on Jan. 16.
She said the Hotel101 brand has continued to perform well.
“Not only in the occupancy rates but also in our sales for Hotel101 Fort… Now, we only very few units left, so it has been overwhelming. We thought we’d take two years to sell it. Looks like its going to be more like one year,” Ms. Yulo said.
Of its 5,000-hotel room target, 4,000 will be under the Hotel101 brand and the rest under JinJiang Inn.
Ms. Yulo said the JinJiang Inn chain caters mainly to the Chinese market.
“It’s really such a niche market… especially because with all of the influx of the Chinese companies coming to the Philippines. A lot of these Chinese companies really want to make sure that they are spending their money in Chinese brands, as well… That’s why it’s very specific,” she said. — V.M.P.Galang
