Villar set to launch 80-hectare casino complex

A SUBSIDIARY of Villar-led Prime Asset Ventures, Inc. is set to launch an 80-hectare casino and entertainment complex in the Las Piñas-Parañaque area by 2023.

Villar Group Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said around $1 billion has been committed to the project.

“We will be launching it early next year since the casino has already been built,” he told reporters on Friday last week.

The project called Gold Coast Entertainment City will be under Vertex Entertainment and Resort Corp., which is a subsidiary of Manuel Paolo A. Villar’s Prime Asset Ventures.

According to the chairman, the complex will house hotels, condominiums, a mall, a casino and a theme park and will be near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

He said the complex will be similar to Disney’s developments.

“We will be putting up a lot of hotels, some condotels,” Mr. Villar said. “Meron na ako ngayon, ‘yong Mella Hotel (We already have one hotel, the Mella Hotel).”

The casino, which is nearly finished, will have roughly 18,000 square meters of floor area and will be in partnership with foreign partners whose names and nationality he did not disclose.

“Pumipili pa kami ng isa doon sa dalawa (We are still choosing from the two choices we have),” Mr. Villar said.

“I look at it more as a resort … This is the biggest in terms of land area,” Mr. Villar said, noting that 98% of the complex will be like a resort.

Meanwhile, Mr. Villar said that his real estate firm Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. will be more aggressive in launching residential projects in 2023 after slowing down operations during the pandemic.

“We will be more active in housing this year. We have been holding back for three years. While we remained active in the market, we did not pursue it as much,” he noted.

“Basta next year, mostly in the first half, makaka-41 kami na launches (Next year, in the first half, we will have 41 launches),” Mr. Villar said.

According to Mr. Villar, the company will have a 45-65 horizontal to vertical ratio by next year.

“Kasi kapag vertical mas napre-preserve mo ang land mo kasi marami kang nabi-build. Tsaka baka ‘yon na ang future kasi sobrang mahal na ng lupa, (When you build a vertical project, you preserve the land more because you can build more. And I think that will be the future, because land is getting more expensive),” Mr. Villar said.

He also said that he expects Vista Land to end the year with 50-50 mix of horizontal and vertical projects. — Justine Irish D. Tabile