CHI: 25 Years of Forward Development and Catalytic Initiatives

Twenty-five years ago, Cebu Holdings, Inc. (CHI) laid the groundwork for some of Cebu City’s most significant landmarks today–Cebu Business Park and Cebu I.T. Park.

With these developments, CHI has been instrumental to the evolution of Cebu from a provincial area to a vibrant city teeming with entrepreneurial growth, complete with all the modern conveniences of technology while still retaining the environmental and laid-back ambiance that is unique to the Cebuano culture.

These complementing developments have allowed the city to flourish not only financially but also socially, keeping the balance of nature and industry at par with sustainable development, knowing that the future of Cebu is anchored on not just one–but both.

It started with the acquisition of the 45-hectare golf course property in 1988, which opened numerous opportunities for uptown Cebu to become the new business and commercial district. Ayala’s vision for the Cebu Business Park– the integration of a multiple mixed-use community–was a perfect fit for Cebu City’s vision of a high-growth zone.

Cebu I.T. Park (Image credit: www.cebuitpark.com)

A testament to this is the expansion–the biggest yet–of the Ayala Center Cebu (ACC), which brings its retail masterplan to full circle. It wasn’t unknown to the Cebuanos that the mall brought further commercial activity in the city when it was erected in 1994. Since then, locals have kept pace with lifestyle of their national counterparts. Local and international brands in clothing, dining and accessories poured into Cebu. Certainly, ACC has set new standards that makes up for a world-class shopping, dining and entertainment destination in merchandise mix, customer service amenities, events, promotions and appeal of place. The new expansion which opened marks another milestone of this regional retail mall. The new wing brings cosmopolitan shopping in Cebu to even greater heights.

Another unique business model is CH-subsidiary Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corporation (CPVDC). It developed the 24-hectare former Lahug airport into another business district to complement Cebu Business Park. Now called Cebu I.T. Park, it is the first PEZA-accredited information technology park in the Visayas and Mindanao area, and is home to the largest concentration of IT and IT-enabled companies outside Metro Manila. This year, CPVDC added another three hectares to add to the growing community at the I.T. Park.

CHI’s premier seaside residential community, Amara, has also redefined standards of luxurious seaside living for its residents. To serve the varying needs of the expanding market, CHI partnered with subsidiaries of parent company, Ayala Land to bring to Cebu the range of residential brands including Ayala Land Premier, Alveo, Avida, and soon, Amaia.

With the collaboration of resources and expertise, CHI and its partners are building developments at a much faster rate than it has for the past quarter of a decade. Thus, it is celebrating its silver year with the theme, “Fast. Forward. Faster.”, which speaks of how CHI helped catalyze growth in Cebu, and how the pace and number of its developments have gone even faster in the last couple of years and moving forward.

CHI executives in the presscon during the opening of the Ayala new wing (Photo by MetroCebu News)

The magnitude and significance of its projects makes CHI the leading real estate company in Cebu; a positive contribution towards helping realize Cebu’s potential as the economic hub outside Luzon. With its projects, CHI has set the standard for high-growth commercial zones in Cebu City, and has influenced the appreciation of land values through first class development.

The dynamic developments that the firm have, have more than just changed the physical landscape of Cebu. They have enriched lives and fashioned a new social fabric where the city’s urban community thrives.