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Ayala Land unveils 1st beach resort project
By Tessa R. Salazar
Inquirer News Service

http://www.inq7.net/globalnation/sec_prf/2005/jul/19-01.htm

THE BEST beaches in the world are those with humans intervening the least. For Ayala Land Inc, this is the driving idea as it ventures for the first time in a 320-hectare beach resort-nature club-cum-residential development in Morong , Bataan called Anvaya Cove.

But the minimalist philosophy doesn't come cheap-ALI has poured in P3.2 billion in investments -- and not all of that will be used in developing the residential side. The natural beach sand is untouched, but the developer has also poured on river sand to create a second layer for what it calls a "recreated beach."

The developer has also taken the responsibility for protecting the nesting grounds of giant sea turtles ( pawikans ) in the area. The presence of magnetites , somehow, has made detecting the nesting sites easier. Scientists theorize of a possible relationship between magnetites and birth locations of pawikans .

Stadium formation

Like a football stadium with the beach as the grid, the sloping land of the resort has a peak elevation of 135 meters (with the highest elevation at some cliffsides at 50 meters) at the farthest edges, and the gentle rolling 3.5-km coastal terrain is peppered with mango and narra trees. The Anvaya Cove has been determined by engineers as being stable land, as it lies on a bedrock , said Marivic Añonuevo , vice president and head of ALI leisure and lifestyle communities.

"The entrance of the resort is the highest peak and then you move down to the main beach resort," Añonuevo said.

Plans for cliffside and forest paths to the beach are already afoot.

The elevation likewise allows for good views of Subic Bay as well as the Zambales and Bataan mountain ranges. In front of the resort is the Silangin mountain range of Zambales . At the back is Mt. Natib of Bataan , a favorite among local mountaineers.

"This is what is unique here. Some developments have (only) water. In our case, we have water and mountain ranges as views," said Beng Abella , Ayala Land senior division manager and head of project team Anvaya .

The beach club, which has its own lagoons, is a natural wetland, with water flowing through it from the higher elevated areas down to the sea. The lagoons were expanded to make more room for recreational activities such as fishing and RC boats.

This "50 percent man-made" lagoon is incorporated in the design of the clubhouse. Andy Locsin of LV Locsin and Partners said it has been reshaped to interact with the architecture.

Harmonious fit

Locsin said the group wanted Anvaya Cove to look like it rose from the ground. The choice of materials and colors reflect a harmonious fit for its natural surroundings.

"We tried to do minimal cut and build, and tried to respect the lay of the land, so it feels like the architecture is of the place. There was a very strong feeling not to overwhelm what is naturally there, so colors and structures almost disappear into the landscape and feel like they've always been part of the setting. It's not about conquering nature, but living with it," he explained.

Locsin said another principle implemented to protect the site's natural features is cluster development. Instead of a vertical structure for a hotel, there would be multidwelling units.

Locsin stressed Ayala's project is giving due respect to the environment.

"We agreed on a philosophy wherein when you leave this earth, you should leave the smallest possible footprint."

Not another Boracay

Just like any Ayala property, sanitation and sewerage is given special attention. Each home in Anvaya will discharge effluents into a sewage treatment plant for processing. What comes out is clean, pollution-free water.

The sewage flows away from the sea. Pumps have been installed to "break the law of gravity" and pull sewage up to the treatment plants. Nothing is discharged into the sea.

From the ancient Sanskrit term that means "family," Anvaya Cove addresses the untapped needs of Filipino families living in luxury resorts.

The target markets are Double A and Triple A families -- full nesters and early retirees.

"It would be a second home. We are not envisioning it as a primary home," said Abella .

Ayala Land spent two years surveying suitable areas to be developed into its first resort. It initially scouted parts in the south, particularly Batangas .

But then the North Luzon Expressway started making significant improvements, and the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project started in earnest with its groundbreaking, Ayala Land then accepted a site offer in its present location.

Leisure community to rise in Anvaya Cove

June 21, 2005 | MALAYA

http://www.malaya.com.ph/jun21/trav3.htm

As with any exemplary project conceived to set regional benchmarks in the industry, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI ventured into its first offering in the leisure market by setting sights on developments here and abroad that exemplified the best practices of the industry. The idea was to pick out the elements, both tangible and intangible, that would meet the primary need of its target market – a place that would forge family bonding memories; a place that would bond relationships between a person and his family, nature, and self.

Anvaya Cove, Ayala Land 's 320-hectare residential leisure community in Morong Bataan , was developed with careful consideration of the market and its needs. " Anvaya ," which means "family" in Sanskrit, is a true embodiment of the company's goal to capture the untapped market of Filipino families who wish to spend more time with their loved ones and who consider vacation periods as valuable opportunities to spend time with one another.

Anvaya Cove is the debut project of Ayala Land 's Leisure and Lifestyle Communities Group, a relatively new division formed within the real-estate company that is tasked to explore and develop the market for real estate geared towards recreational living, leisure, and secondary home or retirement purposes. With vice president Marivic Añonuevo at its helm, Ayala Land is confidently poised to conquer the leisure market not just in the Philippines but overseas as well.

It was with full management support that the Anvaya Cove team set out to define the broad strokes that would mold the project. Together with representatives from SUDECO —a privately owned corporation which is the joint development partner of ALI in Anvaya Cove— they went as far and wide as Hawaii, San Francisco, and Florida in the U.S. in order to get a better feel for the "modern tropical Asian" theme envisioned for the development. The project team, headed by Beng Abella , also visited the nearby seaside residential leisure communities and high end resorts of Phuket , Koh Samui and Hua Hin of Thailand .

"The Philippines is blessed with such natural beauty. If other countries especially in Asia can create these resorts with such high quality, why can't we do the same in the Philippines ?" said Añonuevo of the project's basic driving force. "We set out to achieve this and maybe come up with something even better." Indeed, aligned with the Ayala vision of providing the best for the Filipino, Anvaya Cove was created with such a thought in mind.

"In our research and from our learnings abroad, we are finding that people are hungering more and more for the back-to-nature experience, away from it all. This is in line with our vision to enhance the natural environment of Anvaya Cove. In this development, we will be working with the lay of the land and will endeavor to retain ecologically valuable patches of green where birds and other wildlife thrive within and around the area," says Marly Laraya , project and business development manager. Indeed, in Anvaya Cove, future homeowners and guests can look forward not only to in-nature relaxation but to learning as well, especially for the growing, impressionable young kids of the family.

"This is an intangible, priceless benefit we hope to offer—to bring them back to nature," she added. "We feel good to be able to offer this to families here in the Philippines ."

It is easy for the team to dream big for Anvaya Cove. "We have seen in the Hualalai Hawaii experience how they have made something out of nothing—a first-class seaside resort development in what used to be lava wasteland," relates Manny Illana , project architecture and planning manager. Blessed with a 3.5-kilometer coastline and its own private cove, the property has wonderful views in a variety of landscape characteristics of tree-lined drives, rolling hills, mango and bamboo groves, and a natural creek. These make for an exciting range of amenities that will be made available through the unique offering of a complete water and land nature experience at the Beach and Nature Club, Recreational Lagoon, Water Sports Pavilion, and Nature Camp.

"What struck me in our visit to Banyan Tree in Phuket was the unfailing one-minute-service. While that level of service may be a bit too high for the resort quality service we aim for at Anvaya Cove, it gives us a good benchmark of what can be achieved," says Darwin Salipsip , project construction manager.

One important learning the team had was that the leisure experience need not be wrapped in elaborate and overly expensive trappings. "Even the highest end resorts we visited were not elaborate structures. What they all did specialize in was in making an occasion of even the most mundane. The key is in the well thought out plans and simplicity of delivery. Landscaping plays a crucial role in delivering this experience," added Abella .

Ayala Land to invest P3.2B in leisure estate
Posted: 1:53 AM | Apr. 07, 2005
Elizabeth L. Sanchez
Inquirer News Service

REAL-ESTATE giant Ayala Land Inc. is setting aside at least P3.2 billion to develop its first leisure estate project, the " Anvaya Cove," a 320-hectare residential-resort community with a view of the beach and mountainsides in Morong town in the province of Bataan , northwest of Manila, company officials said Wednesday.

Ayala Land has increased its budget for capital expenditures by 68 percent to P13.5 billion this year from P8.1 billion in 2004, and will spend over two thirds on new projects, said senior vice president and chief financial officer Jaime Ysmael .

Besides the Anvaya Cove, the company is planning residential subdivisions, townhouses, shopping malls, and business process outsourcing ( BPO ) facilities, he said.

Ayala Land president Jaime Ayala said, "The way that we look at it, we would like to capture as much of the spending that people have on real estate products. We haven't had a product in the leisure area before, so some of our customers were actually spending on other areas."

Early this year, Ayala Land partnered with Subic Bay Development and Industrial Estate Corp. to develop the high-end seaside resort community a few minutes away from the southern gate of Subic Bay Free Port and a few kilometers off Subic 's Ocean Adventure and jungle reserve.

Jaime Ayala (no relation to the Zobel de Ayala family that controls the company) said Anvaya , which is Sanskrit for "family," is envisioned to be a second home for people who want a weekend retreat in the Subic area.

"We feel that the Subic area has some critical mass or momentum in terms of amenities and the things you can do when you go there. In addition to everything you can do inside the community, when you go outside [of the community], there is so much to do," he said.

Ayala Land is working on licenses to sell lots in Anvaya , which it plans to launch by mid-June.

The company is disposing of non-core assets, including its stake in the Metro Rail, which brought in P5 billion to its coffers over the past three years.

It plans to launch its 200,000-square-meter, P3-billion North Triangle mall in Quezon City by 2007. It has completed the bidding for certain construction works for mall and plans to start construction next month.

Jaime Ayala said the company remains "cautiously optimistic" in its outlook for the property market, with growth driven by the BPO business, consumer spending, and further boosted by improved interest rates and demand from overseas Filipino workers. With INQ7.net

Ayala Land to develop mega resort in Morong ( http://www.mb.com.ph/TOUR2005031930934.html )

By MAR T. SUPNAD

MORONG , Bataan – This coastal and sleepy town with beautiful untapped beaches may be the country's site of the possible "biggest resort" as the Ayala Land Inc. has started developing a total of 350 hectares of lot into a world-class resort and leisure center.

Located along the sprawling coastal areas here, the Resort and Leisure Center that would be put up here, according to Gov. Enrique Garcia, would become the next tourism and economic hub in the area.

Speaking during the launching of an environment program here that was attended by no less than US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone and top US embassy officials, Gov. Garcia said that the Ayala Land had already made its presentation with him regarding the development and conversion of the 350 hectares of land owned by the Pasudeco Corporation, a private corporation which owns the lot.

Garcia proudly reported that the town will finally be the next center for tourist attraction with the imminent conversion of its coastal area into a world-class resort. A total of 1,000 to 1,500 employees would be generated once this goes in full swing.

He said that although this town is one hour drive away from the capital city of Balanga , it is strategically located being just beside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority ( SBMA ).

Huge area of the SBMA is under the town of Morong and Hermosa town.

Among the facilities that would be put up here are golf course, villas, resort hotels, big establishments and various recreational facilities, saying the area to be developed includes 3.5 hectares of coastal area, suitable for scuba diving, fishing, swimming and boating.

This town is one of the few beaches in the region that has crystal clear and unpolluted water with fine white sands. Tourists and beach-goers, however, failed perhaps to notice the town's abundant and unique coastal resources due to the municipality's poor promotion on its environment and clean coastal areas.

Garcia said that this will be the possible biggest resort in the country once it is completed.

The entry of the giant Ayala Land , widely known for its expertise in construction industry, indicates the investors' confidence in Bataan and to the effectiveness of the present leadership of the province. Garcia has also invited a lot of investors to pour in their investment here.

It is in this town where the Bataan Technology Park Inc. ( BTPI ) is located although, some said, there still no progress up to now despite the millions of pesos the national government has poured and invested into the BTPI .

ALI to develop Subic land into high-end resort By Zinnia B. Dela Peña

The Philippine Star 02/01/2005

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has entered into an agreement with Subic Bay Development & Industrial Estate Corp. to jointly develop the latter's 320-hectare property in Subic into a high-end seaside residential resort community.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said the project site is located just a few minutes away from the southern gate of Subic , in the town of Morong , Bataan .

This residential resort community will be ALI's first venture into the leisure market.

ALI said it is now fasttracking the launch of the Beach and Nature Club, which will form the core facilities of community and for which club shares will be offered to the market. ALI will also offer seaside lots and elegant sea view villas.

"This project is in answer to the market's clamor for a leisure community that will be developed with the same high level of quality and commitment that ALI has always been known for," ALI senior vice president Jaime E. Ysmael said.

ALI earlier formed two wholly-owned subsidiaries – Oxbury Realty Corp. and Bridgebury Realty Corp. Both companies will engage in property development. Oxbury and Bridgebury have an initial authorized capital stock of P115 million and P90 million, respectively.

ALI has a well-diversified development and investment property portfolio consisting of retail centers, office and residential buildings, hotels, single and multi-family homes, and industrial estates.

Its strategy is to maintain and enhance its position as the leading property developer in the country. It intends to continue its traditional activity of developing large-scale, mixed-use integrated communities while diversifying its revenue base.

ALI expects to complete this year two build-to-suit office buildings, dedicated to business process outsourcing operations. This will add about 30,000 square meters of leasable space to the company's office rental portfolio.