Rockwell Land Corp., the property unit of the Lopez group, said Monday it plans to borrow P5 billion from Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. to fund capital expenditures.
Rockwell Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange its board of directors approved the plan to avail up to P5 billion in bilateral loan facility with tenors of five, seven and 10 years.
Rockwell Land identified several projects in the pipeline to sustain the growth of the company.
The property developer is currently expanding its upscale shopping mall in Makati that will add roughly 6,000 square meters of space. Total capital spending is estimated at P600 million this year.
The expansion of Power Plant Mall, which is expected to cost P600 million, is slated for completion by 2017.
The property firm is also spending P3 billion to develop a one-hectare lot at the corner of United and Sheridan Streets in Mandaluyong City into an office and retail development.
The project to be called RBC United will initially offer nine floors of prime office space and two floors of retail shopping.
Another P1 billion will be used for the development of a 1.3-hectare lot in San Juan City to be called Retailscapes Santolan.
Retailscapes Santolan will have a shopping mall and office component.
These projects are expected to add 68,000 square meters of leasable space to the company’s office and retail space portfolio.
Rockwell Land is focusing on increasing recurring income streams to complement its residential business.
All projects will help the company’s target to double its commercial development portfolio to more than 200,000 square meters of gross leasable space.
Share price of Rockwell Land closed lower by 1.3 percent to P1.47 on Monday.
Rockwell Land, meanwhile, is close to acquiring a beach resort in Cebu province. Rockwell Land president Nestor Padilla earlier said the company had plans to bring its Aruga Hotel brand to Mactan Cebu.
“We are bullish about Cebu, especially with the airport project. At this point, we will want to make sure we have the right components for the project,” Padilla said.
It will be the first beach resort project of Rockwell Land, which started operations in 1995 with the redevelopment of an old thermal power plant complex into an upscale mixed-use community, now known as Rockwell Center in Makati City.
Rockwell Land also acquired a 5.9-hectare property in Sto. Tomas, Batangas as it plans to venture into the socialized and affordable housing segment of the real estate market.
Padilla said the company’s venture into affordable housing segment was in preparation for the enactment of a bill requiring condominium developers to build socialized housing projects.
“There is already a draft bill. So we are already preparing for that,” Padilla said last year.
The company’s venture into socialized housing sector will enable it to diversify into new markets and expand its footprint in Luzon.
Socialized housing projects refer to house and lots costing not more than P400,000 per unit.
