DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. has acquired a 3.9-hectare property in Iloilo to be developed by its industrial unit, as it looks to develop manufacturing facilities across the country.

In a statement on Wednesday, the listed firm said Iloilo will be the site of the second complex under CentralHub Industrial Centers, Inc.

Located along Iloilo R3 road, CentralHub Industrial Centers will be constructing standardized multi-use warehouses suited for commissaries, cold storage, light manufacturing, and logistics distribution centers. The site is located three kilometers away from the Iloilo International Airport, and around 10 kilometers away from Iloilo City Proper.

Once fully developed, the facility will offer 22,000 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable space. This will bring DoubleDragon’s industrial leasing portfolio to 54,000 sq.m., as the company is also developing CentralHub Tarlac with a total leasable space of 32,000 sq.m.

“We believe the industrial leasing segment presents significant growth opportunities for DoubleDragon as the current market supply is very traditional and fragmented,” DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar J. Sia II said in a statement.

By 2020, CentralHub is targeting to have 100,000 sq.m. of leasable space from eight industrial properties covering a total land area of 100 hectares. The company looks to scatter its footprint to two developments in North Luzon, two in South Luzon, two in Visayas, and two in Mindanao.

The company is banking on e-commerce businesses as well as tenants of its community malls segment to push up demand for industrial spaces in the future. DoubleDragon is also currently undertaking the expansion of CityMalls, where it expects to have 700,000 sq.m. of leasable space by 2020.

DoubleDragon’s entry into the industrial property sector forms part of its vision to become a leader in a space that has yet to be dominated by the country’s largest players in real estate.

“As a new player in an already mature real estate industry which has been dominated by large established players for decades, we are focused in segments within the real estate space where we still have an opportunity to organically dominate, such as industrial leasing, provincial community mall leasing and hospitality,” Mr. Sia said.

Aside from expanding its industrial and community malls businesses, DoubleDragon is also ramping up its office leasing and hospitality segments under its 2020 vision. By then, the firm looks to have 5,000 rooms from under Hotel 101 and Jinjiang Inn brands.

The completion of Jollibee Tower in Ortigas Center and DD Meridian Park will add another 300,000 sq.m. of office spaces under its portfolio, for a total leasable space of 1.2 million sq.m. under DoubleDragon.

The company targets to book earnings of P5.5 billion upon the completion of these projects in 2020.

DoubleDragon’s attributable profit for the first three quarters of 2017 rose 8.4% to P812 million, as revenues jumped 108% to P4.08 billion.

Shares in DoubleDragon gained 40 centavos or 1.11% to finish at P36.50 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

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