Cagayan de Oro City’s leading property developer does it again!
After over three years of painstaking planning and meticulous research, Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation finally broke ground for its latest project, the Westwoods Storeys Mid-Rise, Mid-Market Condominium-in-a-Forest during a groundbreaking and tree planting ceremony held at the project site on June 30, 2023.
Located in The Knoll (meaning a small natural hill/hammock/hillock/hummock or mound), Westwoods Storeys is located in one of the few remaining spaces for development in the 400 hectare township.
Engr. Chrysler B. Acebu, General Manager for Pueblo de Oro Township and Vice President for Mindanao, stressed how it is not a cookie cutter project (denoting something mass-produced or lacking any distinguishing characteristics).
“We have different types of products catering to different markets, and we are proud of the types of development we have done so far,” he noted. “When started in 1995, the idea was to create a unique development: the township concept. Where all utilities and land use are situated in one contiguous parcel of land.”
Today, Pueblo de Oro Cagayan de Oro has grown into a 400-hectare Township where everything has been made conveniently accessible to the dwellers, where residents need not leave the comforts of their homes to see what the city is all about, while offering a unique change of scenery from the hustle and bustle of the urban jungle.
Acebu said they did not expect to develop all of the 360 hectares they initially had at the beginning in just over 20 years, and took over 3 years to come up with the concept for Westwoods Storeys.
However, its development was accelerated by the disruptions created by the pandemic which finally crystalized for the planners their unique value proposition: a secure location not located within the built-up areas of the urban jungle, but nestled in the bosom of a lush green forest, thus the low density development will only have seven buildings with 989 units within the 5-hectare project area, and 23 hectares total area.
Lemuel L. Branal, Pueblo Vice President for Sales and Marketing clarified that given the increasingly limited land space, a low-density mid-rise condominium requires much less land than single detached homes and can be accommodated in spaces like The Knoll without having to sacrifice the forest.
“The Westwoods Storeys only have 20 units per floor in 7 floors for each building,” he noted. “At present, this is the only location where Pueblo can implement this concept. It differs from other condo projects which plant greens within their areas, while Westwoods is already in the midst of a green forest.”
City Councilor Edgardo Salcedo Cabanlas, Chairman of the Committee on Urban and Rural Poor and Housing Development, hailed the new project and committed the city’s full assistance and support.
(photo courtesy of Kag. Malvern Esparcia)
“We prioritize such developments by seeing to it there are no delays in the processing of approvals for their licenses and permits,” Cabanlas said. “While we can’t immediately resolve the housing shortage because of the vast numbers of people migrating to our city, we’re always on the lookout on how we can leverage the LGUs mass housing projects with the socialized housing components of private sector projects which have helped make Cagayan de Oro the third fastest growing real estate sector in the country.”
(photo courtesy of Kag. Malvern Esarcia)
For his part, City Councilor Malvern A. Esparcia, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, congratulated Pueblo de Oro for the Westwoods Storeys concept which he said perfectly jibes with the Green Building Code which future real estate developments future real estate developments will have to comply with once it is passed by the city council.
Another ordinance he has filed seeks to declare Cagayan de Oro under a state of Climate Change Emergency.
“Together, these can complement each other to catalyze the creation of green projects like Westwood Storeys. I am happy to learn Pueblo is also working to have its EDGE Certification. I have data on how climate change is drastically changing our climate and weather, so these two pending ordinances would ensure our future real estate developments can directly address such changes,” he noted.
EDGE is a green building certification system that requires a minimum projected reduction of 20% in energy use, water use, and embodied energy in materials as benchmarked against a standard local building.
Homeowners can save at least 20% on energy and water bills compared to a common home, which increases confidence in the value of the long-term investment. Ecological homes not only give better results, but usually sell up to four times faster and at a price between 4% and 10% higher.
A house is only as strong as its foundation but more importantly, a home is only as strong as the family ties that bind it. For over 25 years, Pueblo de Oro has championed this truism by continuing to sustain distinction and quality which strengthen the foundation for the values and beliefs of Filipino families it builds homes for.
About Pueblo de Oro:
Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation is a member of the ICCP Group, a mid-sized conglomerate engaged in two broad lines of businesses: financial services, and property development and management.
The ICCP Group takes pride in the ethical conduct of its diverse businesses and services, and in the dedication of its officers and staff to high standards of professional competence.
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