Crimson Hotel is located in Filinvest City, Alabang. – www.crimsonhotel.com

Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) continues to set its sight on infrastructure projects under the government’s public-private partnership (PPP) program, as the Gotianun-led firm remains on track to have a portfolio of 5,000 hotel rooms by 2020. 

FDC Director Joseph M. Yap told reporters last week, the conglomerate may consider bidding for the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project if the government decides to break up the toll road and real estate components. 

“We will look at it. The reason we didn’t join [is] very early on, we felt it wasn’t feasible technically and financially. We didn’t even try to pre-qualify anymore,” Mr. Yap said. 

The auction of the dike PPP failed last month, with bidders expressing concern on the viability of the project. The PPP Center last week said the government is preparing a new contract for the project, which may not include reclamation or the construction of a dike. 

FDC is keen on participating in the P170.7-billion South Line of the North-South Railway Project (NSRP) and it will take a look at the Clark International Airport if the government decides to auction it off. 

“We’re looking at that [railway]. For Clark, if ever they bring that out, we will always look at that,” Mr. Yap said. 

The consortium of Filinvest, Japan Airport Terminal Corp. and Sojitz Corp. has been pre-qualified to participate in the auction for the regional airports. 

HOTEL EXPANSION 

Meanwhile, FDC is upbeat it can hit its target to have a network of 5,000 hotel rooms by 2020 with the takeover of the Mimosa Leisure Estate in Clark. 

“We are looking at 5,000 rooms [under construction or completed] in five years. With Mimosa and these projects and those that will be announced, we have a good shot of hitting our target,” said FDC Director Francis C. Gotianun, who is in charge of the group’s hotel business. 

The consortium of FDC and its real estate arm Filinvest Land, Inc. sealed a long-term lease agreement with Clark Development Corp. for Mimosa. The Filinvest Group was the lone bidder for the 201.64-hectare property on Jan. 15. 

The Mimosa property has 334 hotel rooms and villas, with the Filinvest group set to renovate the dilapidated villas and introduce its own hotel brand, likely under the Crimson brand, FDC President and Chief Executive Officer Lourdes Josephine Gotianun-Yap said. 

Filinvest is bringing its new Canvas lifestyle hotel brand to Cubao (220 rooms) and Mactan (200 rooms) and Quest hotel to Tagaytay (164 rooms) and Dumaguete (180 rooms), Mr. Gotianun said. 

The listed holding firm and Indonesian hotel group Archipelago International, Inc. rebranded their 60-40 joint venture Filarchipelago Hospitality, Inc. into Chroma Hospitality, Inc. last year. 

Chroma Hospitality, Inc., whose business was previously limited to Filinvest-owned properties, opened its hotel management services to third parties after building a portfolio of 1,062 keys across the homegrown high-end Crimson Hotels in Alabang and Cebu, and middle-income Quest Hotel in Cebu since 2008 when the partnership started. 

Source: Business World
By: Krista A. M. Montealegre, Senior Reporter