DAMOSA LAND, Inc. (DLI) finally launched its master-planned mixed-use project in Davao del Norte, after delays due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“We were supposed to launch the (Bridgeport) project in 2020, we were all ready with our plans… but obviously COVID happened. Even if we could have launched it perhaps last year and I believe we could have sold it, we wanted to wait for a time where the situation was better,” DLI President Ricardo F. Lagdameo said during its online launch last week.

Bridgeport is a 13-hectare marina development located in Caliclic in Samal island, which can be accessed via a powerboat from Davao City. The company said the project was inspired by the US East Coast.

The development will feature four low-density condominium towers called Bridgeport Park, which will only have 274 units.

DLI said land development will start this year up to 2024, while construction of the first building is scheduled from 2024 to 2025. Turnover of the units is slated for the second quarter of 2025.

Bridgeport will also have a gated subdivision, Harbor View Estates, near the beach. DLI only plans to sell 22 lots, with lot sizes ranging from 400 to 600 square meters (sq.m.).

The company said the two residential components may bring in as much as P3 billion in sales.

“We’re positioning it as a second home, a leisure home, and we feel that the demand for these types of products will still be very strong,” Mr. Lagdameo said.

Damosa Land said the highlight of its Bridgeport project is the marina, as it wants to promote the “boating lifestyle.”

“The boating lifestyle is something that has really grown over the last couple of years here in Davao. We wanted to give our homeowners and buyers a place where they can enjoy the marina, they can even park their boats here, they can even go home to their own homes that they will be building,” Mr. Lagdameo said.

Bridgeport will also have a commercial area along the marina as well as a 1,200-sq.m. events hall that can accommodate 500 seats, a lighthouse with a cocktail bar, swimming pools, play areas, clubhouses, a pavilion, and a forest park.

Damosa Land said other projects on track to be completed this year include the Agriya agritourism component Naturetainment, the 63-hectare Anflo Industrial Estate, and its 17-level Damosa Diamond Tower.

Construction will begin this year on the University of the Philippines Professional School of Agriculture and the Environment in Panabo City.

“Our portfolio has extended into several real estate sectors that include township developments, residential, commercial, industrial, and even tourism projects,” Janine P. Salanga, an Anflo-industrial estate team sales and marketing assistant manager at DLI, said.

Damosa Land said it saw a 10% annual increase in residential sales in 2021.

Commercial spaces had an occupancy rate of 94.3% in 2021 from 87.6% the previous year.

Damosa Land’s industrial lot sales grew 221.05% in 2021.

“There was an additional industrial space take-up of 47,440 sq.m. in 2021, compared to the 75,234 sq.m. already sold or leased in 2020, which left 70,675 sq.m. availability for industrial lots and warehouses,” Ms. Salanga said.

By 2022, Damosa Land plans to earmark around P1 billion for capital expenditures (capex).

“A bulk of the capex will be for the township projects that were already started about two years ago,” Mr. Lagdameo said, adding that Damosa Land will also spend its budget on the Bridgeport project and industrial projects.

Mr. Lagdameo said the company still has a landbank “close to about 100 hectares” across the Davao region.

“We believe that for the next couple of years, we’re quite optimal with the landbank that we have that’s roughly about 100 hectares. Nevertheless, when we’re presented with interesting opportunities, we do look into those,” Mr. Lagdameo said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte

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