Westchester Realty Corp., a property firm led by the family of former Governor Rodolfo Valencia, acquired and took over more than 8,000 housing units previously owned by Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp.
John Nico Valencia, president and chief operating officer of WRC, said the company acquired the properties, including 540 units of GA Tower along EDSA in Mandaluyong City, from Pag-IBIG Fund for about P3.2 billion. He said WRC also spent on the refurbishing of the units.
“We expect to sell the GA Tower residential units within the next six months. These ready-for-occupancy units, with average selling price of P77,000 per square meter, are 40 percent to 50 percent cheaper than similar residential projects in the EDSA-Mandaluyong area,” said Valencia.
Valencia said WRC coordinated with Pag-IBIG Fund and Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee to ensure that the turnover of the units to the end-buyers would proceed smoothly.
“This will not prosper without the proper coordination and cooperation from the previous developer, Mr. Delfin Lee. We’ve assured Mr. Lee that WRC will respect and give priority to GA’s previous and original buyers especially those who have fully paid their purchased housing units,” he said.
“We are very excited about the GA Tower project, as this would once again prove to be a success based on the most affordable pricing scheme that we have prepared particularly for qualified Pag-IBIG Fund member-borrowers. Its location and amenities provide homebuyers the opportunity to own condominium units right at the center of everything,” said Valencia said
He said GA Tower provides “affordable luxury” at the lowest price. The company will start selling the units of GA Tower on July 8.
Valencia said WRC sold more than 4,000 of the 8,000 units of GA projects acquired from Pag-IBIG through public auctions amid the pandemic since the start of the 2020.
“Housing demand is very strong particularly for first-home buyers. We were able to sell more than 4,000 units in the housing communities built by Globe Asiatique throughout the span of the pandemic period,” Valencia said.
“We bought the rights to these non-performing assets of Pag-IBIG fund by way of public auctions,” he said.
“We expect to sell the remaining 4,000 units in the next 18 months,” Valencia said.
These former Globe Asiatique housing communities are located in Pampanga, Binangonan and San Mateo in Rizal province, Valenzuela City and Mandaluyong.
Valencia said WRC, a unit of the RGV Group of Companies, is looking at redeveloping other projects in Bulacan, Cavite and other nearby provinces.
“Despite the challenging times, our company even gained the momentum that led us to acquiring more of Pag-Ibig Funds non-performing assets,” he said.
Valencia said the controversy between Pag-IBIG and Globe Asiatique was resolved with the entry of WRC and its acquisition of the units through public auctions, on an “as is, where is” basis.
“We did our utmost due diligence, and together with the assurance from Pag-IBIG Fund, everything has been running accordingly and smoothly,” Valencia said.
The RGV Group of Companies has built more than 300 housing projects over the past 45 years.
WRC, a 33-year-old company, was awarded twice by Pag-IBIG as No.1 Developer in Northern Luzon and No.7 top developer nationwide.
