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REAL ESTATE

Let's talk about looking, choosing, and buyin your dream house or condo.

Let's talk about real estate.

Condo living at the Gramercy and Knightsbridge Residences

It isn't really that hard to sell condo units especially if it's located in the Makati area, says Odessa, our seminar facilitator for real estate.Sure, there are plenty of condo units being built in Taguig at the Fort, Ortigas and Mandaluyong area. But still, if you are investing in a condo unit, it is best to buy one in Makati, the country's central business district. Just like Ahmed the terrorist said, "Location, location, location."

Gramercy and Knightsbridge Residences

Century Properties' pet project, a very big, ambitious one, is the Century City, a 3.4 hectare property on Kalayaan Avenue, within what they now call "MoMa" or Modern Makati. This is used to be the location of International School, now located in Fort Bonifacio.

Touted as the last piece of prime real estate land in Makati, Century City is conceptualized as "a city within a city" which, in five to ten years, will feature two condominium buildings, the Knightsbridge and the Gramercy, a lifestyle center with flagship stores and retail houses, posh restos, cafes, and bars and an IT park and Information Technology School. Something I also learned from Odessa is that when developing big tracks of land, the city government requires that at least 20 percent be allotted for the community, hence, the idea for the IT park, all 2,000 square meters of it.

Mitch Leones, a friend back in high school, offered to take me "tripping" at Century Properties' showroom at the Pacific Star building to view the Gramercy and Knightsbridge units. The Gramercy takes its name from Manhattan's ultra-exclusive Gramercy Park, a small, fenced-in private park in New York City's most prestigious of neighborhoods. Hollywood celebs have keys to this ultra exclusive park, they say, so papparazi find it hard to get in. Replicate that concept to the Gramercy in Makati and you get the same world class amenities, comparable only to what Century Properties did with Essensa at the Fort, albeit on a smaller, no less, grander, scale. No surprise here, since Gramercy and Essensa East Forbes was designed by the same person,the world renowned I.M. Pei.

Remember Dan Brown's book Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks and the scene where he was kneeling at the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris? That awe-inspiring glass pyramid, a tribute to modernist architecture, located at the courtyard the Louvre Museum was designed by I.M. Pei, the same person who designed the Bank of China Tower, Javits Convention Center and theMuseum of Islamic Art in Doha. Essensa East Forbes was voted as Best Residential Building in the Philippines by Asiaweek magazine.

AS the first tower to rise at the Century City, the Gramercy will set the standard for luxury condo living in Makati come turnover in 2011. Its piece de resistance, never before seen in the country, is the Skypark, located at the 34th, 35th and 36th floors and traversing the entire spread of the residential tower. It has cascading waterfalls, three world-class swimming pools (a freeform infinity pool, 25-meter lap pool and children's pool)---all with breathtaking Makati Skyline views. There's a spa and massage center and a THX theater, and daycare services as well. To top it all, the Gramercy has delivery service from all Century City restaurants at the lower floors, newspaper delivery, grocery, laundry and drycleaning, petwalking and sitting all available 24/7. It's more like a 5-star hotel, so to speak, where everything is being done for you. They have allotted storage space at the basement for the residents' sports equipment or boxes of old clothes and the like. Piolo Pascual was said to have inquired about getting a loft but they offered him a two bedroom studio and got him as endorser. I am not telling though, which floor his unit is located.

All units are fully fitted, fully furnished; no worries looking for furniture and appliances or the additional cost of hiring interior designers (the standard rate is Php 29,000 per square meter), movers or contractors.Six design options are available to clients from the very contemporary to the very elegant, old world. Common furnishings available to all units are wood laminated flooring, bedroom closets, fully fitted bathrooms, custom-built kitchen cabinets and countertops and a rangehood. It is best to get the extras such as living and dining room showcase, home entertainment center, air conditioning as well because you get them cheaper from Century Properties suppliers and contractors. The price of the extras though are not included in the discount even if you buy at preselling stage or offer to pay a substantial spot-on downpayment.

Units go for 29-34 sq. mt. (studio single), 1 bedroom (34-42 sq. mt.), 2 bedroom (66.76 sq. mt.) to 3 bedroom (153.65 sq. mt.). All units are designed to include a panoramic view of the Makati skyline.

The second tower to rise in Century City is the Knightsbridge, a mixed use development designed by Jon Jerde, world renowned masterplanner of the Universal City Walk in Los Angeles, Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Roppongi Hills in Tokyo and Zlote Tarasy in Warsaw Poland.

If Gramercy is New York inspired, Knightsbridge is London at its most dynamic. It will become the tallest man-made structure in the country at turnover in 2013, to rival that of PBComm Tower (52 storeys) in Ayala Avenue. Designed as a vertical village,the Knightsbridge offers state of the art corporate offices and entertainment complex at the lower floors. Its curvilinear design and Lantern concept -- six levels of units with dramatic floor to ceiling windows enhanced with exterior lighting -- will be iconic and breathtaking especially at night. Clients have five design options to choose from.

Another design innovation for Knightsbridge is the pod concept.Each unit (27 sq.mt. each) at The Knightsbridge Residences is called a pod (or mypod) or the equivalent of a studio unit. Combine two pods to create the duopod or two studio units combined.

"Some clients would buy the the duopod because they can divide the space and have the other pod leased or rented since each pod is separately titled," says Mitch. Seven to eight months before the units are turned over, the client will be asked if he intends to have his unit rented or leased. A letter of intent is then sent to Century Properties Management Inc. (CPMI), the leasing arm of Century Properties, stating the unit owner's requirements for future renters and the monthly rental fee, which is usually one percent more or less of the current value.

"This is perfect for OFWs who are looking to invest in real estate. Let's say, you bought the unit for Php2.1 millioin at preselling stage in 2009 when the project broke ground. Come turover in 2013, the same unit could appreciate to Php 3 million. Your rental fee is at Php 30,000 or so a month. Our property management team collects all the post dated checks for the rental fee," says Mitch. CPMI gets a commission for managing the property, usually one month's rental fee.

I asked why condo units are usually named after or inspired by famous places or landmarks as such with the Gramercy and Knightsbridge. Odessa says owning a condo is aspirational. "When you invest in a condo unit, you are also investing in the lifestyle that you want," she says. Imagine living in a place which evokes images and the feel of Manhattan and London. Both the Gramercy and Knightsbridge have white-glove doormen, concierge service, superintendent and porter services. The lobby and common areas of the building, particularly The Podium Level amenity floor will be designed by Hong Kong-based International Leisure Consultants (ILC). Other amenities include an expansive Wi-Fi-ready living room, outdoor/indoor space with waterfalls, outdoor Jacuzzi and an infinity pool, a family room with a modern home entertainment system, a highly-appointed, full-service fitness center, a dining area with a delicatessen, and a day spa.

"Pocket developments within the Makati area will be nothing compared to what Century City will be, the vision of which was patterned after the Bonifacio Global city in Taguig," claims Odessa. The vision for Bonifacio is to build a city from the ground up, one which will not only focus on the lifestyle component of property development but also provide the best facilities that will respond to the future needs of modern city life. She then cites The Essensa East Forbes as an example. It was the first high rise to rise at the former 440-hectare military base and the development broke ground at the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 when prices of real estate were at an all time low.The 30-storey twin residential tower is comprised of 116 units per tower. The average size of one unit is 180 sq. mt. which means that only four unit owners share the same floor. The penthouse, on the other hand, range from 290-350 sq mt.

"We were preselling at an average cost of Php 17-20 million for a 180 sq mt. unit and we found a market, people in Forbes Makati who want to own a piece of property in Bonifacio because they see that it will be the next "it" address in five years' time. Some of our clients are retired and their children are either married or have migrated abroad and they cannot maintain a big household, and they themselves leave the country from time to time so they sold their house in Forbes and moved to Essensa," Odessa relates. What she wants to put across is that a there is opportunity in every crisis and buying property located in a prime location is a good hedge against inflation. Today, a 180 sq mt. unit in Essensa costs around Php 30-45 million.

"For people who have disposable income, this is the best time invest in a condo unit in Makati, since the Century City is the last piece of prime real estate in Makati and it is masterplanned by the same people who worked on Essensa. There will no longer be a project as big as this in Makati, as every space has been taken up. It might be a little more than what you would pay for but think of the resale value of the unit," Odessa adds as a parting shot.

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