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Friday, March 29, 2024

University residence builder expands real estate portfolio

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A member of Davao’s Lorenzo family returned to the country after studying in the United States in the 1990s to redesign student housing which would soon become a lucrative segment of the Philippine property sector.

Tomas Lorenzo, a younger brother of former Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, led the development of Torre Lorenzo 1 along Taft Ave. near De La Salle University to provide homes for young and vibrant market through stylish and contemporary living spaces.

“We were called dormitories, bed spacers and the like…What we’ve done is we’ve made it the place to stay if you are a university student in top universities. We are already a brand,” says Lorenzo.

“University residences did not really exist before we started the first one,” says Lorenzo.  “We bring to the market what the students need and a lot of it came from their parents who really feel a need for a home for their children away from home. So we said let’s come up with residential units for students which we can be proud of, which the parents don’t mind visiting.”

Torre Lorenzo Development Corp. president and chief executive Tomas Lorenzo

His first project which opened in 2001 would be followed by more so-called university residences, a trend that will be replicated across the property sector in the next decade. Other university residences built by Torre Lorenzo Development Corp. are Torre Central near University of Santo Tomas and Torre Sur in Las Piñas City.

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TLDC, the company he established and led as president and chief executive, is now diversifying into other projects by creating new segments in the property sector.  It is spending P30 billion to P32 billion to finance the construction of 22 projects until 2020.

“We don’t just follow the trend. We want to make sure we’re first. We wanna make sure that before people even know they need it, we already know what is going to happen. So we watch demographics. We watch migration patterns. We talk to the markets,” Lorenzo says.

Lorenzo, whose family controls fruit producer and trader Lapanday Foods Corp., is now looking to invest in other areas of the country. 

“Those of you who know our group and my family know that we are heavily invested outside Metro Manila. We are really thankful for the opportunities given to us especially in Mindanao where my family is from, and we are able to really tap into that provincial growth and there will be more provincial growth,” he says.

He is bullish about growth in other parts of the country. “Many people would rather move back to the provinces where they grew up, and we want to make sure that we are there to give them what they need and the amenities that they want,” says Lorenzo.

TLDC is building mixed-use developments, hotels and condominiums in Baguio City, Pampanga, other parts of Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

“Today, we are continuing to tell the world that we just don’t do university residences. Yes, we are very adept in coming up with innovations to the university residences concept, but at the same time we actually come up with newer offerings, newer products or portfolio such as the Tierra Lorenzo projects which are mixed-use developments in regional centers,” says Lorenzo.

Lorenzo wants TLDC to be known as a small company that slowly expands until it becomes known because of its brand. “We really think out of the box. We see ourselves as a little company that dreamt big and a little company that you didn’t notice was there, but later on you realized that our projects are all around us already.”

“We don’t want to have a very industrial type of business model… We want to have a personal touch. We want make sure people are happy and like I said we don’t leave our buyers behind,” says Lorenzo.

Some Torre Lorenzo’s units are only open for leasing, because this provides the company a recurring income.  “The leasing of our units and retaining units serve several purposes.  We have recurring income and it allows us to manage the building because we become  owners as well.  Also, I can look up to my buyers and not feel guilty and be very honest and say ‘I am not going to leave you behind.”

TLDC is pursuing five projects this year, including Torre Lorenzo Malvar in Malate near University of the Philippines-Manila “This one, we are very excited of, because we really put everything that we feel to make the building a success.” 

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