SM Development Corp., the residential unit of property developer SM Prime Holdings Inc., said it began sending people to study Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand as a part of its Asean expansion.
SMDC executive vice president Jose Mari Banzon said the company deployed people to different countries to make evaluations and recommendations.
Banzon said the company would prioritize the three Asean members as priority markets for residential expansion because of their demographic profile and potential for growth.
“We are still in the very preliminary stage. We have started sending people to different countries for them to make their evaluations,” Banzon said.
He said while SMDC was still conducting studies, the company was already looking at the possibility of building mid-rise residential developments in these countries.
Banzon earlier said the company would consider joint venture partnerships to support the Asean expansion.
SMDC is currently building its first two residential towers in Chengdu, China. Banzon said SMDC would start pre-selling the residential units in Chengdu this month.
Banzon said the construction of the residential buildings in Chengdu reached the ground level, which would now enable SMDC it to start pre-selling the units.
SMDC is building a seven-tower residential condominium on a two-hectare property beside its mall in Chengdu. It would start pre-selling the first two towers which are expected to be completed by 2019.
SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said the planned residential towers in Chengdu would be a test project for the company’s residential group.
“Depending on how the market will respond to SM Development’s residential projects, the plan in the future is to do more but within a shopping complex near SM malls. We will do stand alone developments,” Lim said.
“We believe that shopping center component as anchor makes our residential projects more attractive to buyers,” Lim said.
SMDC also started developing house and lot units in Mabalacat, Pampanga. The project will offer a total of 5,000 residential units priced between P1.8 million and P2.5 million.
The group is looking at doing similar projects in Cabanatuan and Urdaneta.
