2 developers bring bodies of water to residents

NO DOUBT, the summer heat provides more than enough reason to rush to the nearest body of water and just soak your sweat away. But what if—for some reason or another—you just can’t go to the coolest beaches and lakes at this time? Well, two property developers just did some out-of-the-box thinking, and have come up with a novel solution: bring that much-needed body of water to you.

First, how about a man-made beach beside your condo? At a starting price of P1.8 million, you get a 26-square-meter condo unit, and a large-scale man-made beach to frolic in anytime of the day you feel like it (The project proponents are still finalizing the specifications, dimensions and plans for the man-made beach).

This six-hectare P6-billion residential resort development of Century Properties and Columbian Motors Group of Companies is called The Azure and will be situated adjacent to SM Bicutan in Parañaque City.

The centerpiece of The Azure is the first of its kind man-made beach cove complete with white sand, undulating waves, multiple water slides and water cascades. And the development team spared no space in this respect, devoting only 20 percent of the total area to the residential buildings, and the rest to open space, amenities, landscaping, a circumferential road around the property, and of course, the beach.

John Victor R. Antonio, Century Properties’ chief operating officer and head of The Azure project, told Inquirer Property that Century Properties is the first developer in the country to attempt a full-size man-made beach amenity in a residential development.

“There are a few man-made beach resorts in the country, among them the Batanes Cove Wave Pool in Kidzworld, Dasmariñas, Cavite. There is also Plantation Bay in Cebu that has a man-made saltwater lagoon. Other developers also offer this feature in their residential projects on a smaller scale,” Antonio said.

Is the man-made beach too much for you? Why not a lake, then? For P8 million to P30 million (the prices of lots alone), and depending on the size and classification of the lot, you may want a suburb in Laguna 30 km from Manila. This ultra low-density, high-end Ayala Land Premier subdivision could be summer heaven. Its twin lakes complete the feel of being in another country north of the equator.

Easy to remember

The name is Montecito and all 60 hectares of it is pleasantly weaved by greenways set against the scenic hills of Canlubang. And it will be easy to remember all your villagemates, as there will only be 279 other homeowners sharing the entire development with you.

The larger of the two lakes measures two hectares, and will be used for recreational purposes. The smaller lake, at 1.5 hectares, is planned as the “utility” pond to irrigate the greenways and other common areas in the property. The water source for both lakes comes from Matang Tubig (literally “eye of the water”), an artesian spring coming from the Tagaytay Ridge (Matang Tubig would also power a mini-hydroelectric plant to generate electricity to light Montecito’s main streets.)

May Platero-Rodriguez, project development manager for Montecito, recently told Inquirer Property that the lakes, being naturally-fed from Matang Tubig are still within its normal level and flowing normally from outside, to Montecito, then out of Montecito. She added that all developments within Nuvali are planting more trees, as there is a minimum tree density ratio that is required within Nuvali.

Source:
http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20100305-256873/2-developers-bring-bodies-of-water-to-residents