PANGLAO, BOHOL — The tourism arm of Bohol-based Alturas group of companies is building an integrated mixed-use resort estate in which it plans to invest P25 billion for the initial phase.
The development, called Panglao Shores, will rise in a 50-hectare property and will be developed by the family-owned Panglao Bay Premiere Parks and Resorts Corp.
“I envision this to be an integrated community where people would like to live in,” said Hope Marie R. Uy, managing director of South Palms Resorts and Panglao Shores, during the press launch of Panglao Shores on Thursday.
Panglao Shores will have more than 1,000 residential units, six hotels and resorts, 37,000-square-meter retail and commercial area, and a medical facility.
Ms. Uy said the project has received help from international and local designers and experts in making the development sustainable. Most of these partners are companies from Singapore especially for the development’s architectural design, sustainability strategies, landscaping, interior designers and technology-based consultants.
“It was a group that did all of these,” Ms. Uy said.
The project’s major consultant is C9 Hotelworks, which is a hospitality and property consultancy service provider that has also worked with well-known developers.
“We chose to work with Panglao Shores because we liked the project. We are a small group so we can choose our clients,” C9 Hotelworks Managing Director Bill Barnett said on the sidelines of the launch.
“We have expertise in the Philippines but I think this is a project that we are going to love. We started on a one-month engagement and we are here five years later,” Mr. Barnett added.
“Bill has seen how Phuket has developed, how Bali has developed. That was a best choice for us to have someone internationally aware of how masterplans pave the way,” Ms. Uy said.
The development of Panglao Shores is also aimed to answer the growing demand for accommodations and hotel services in Panglao.
“The opportunity of this beautiful beachfront needs to be maximized. I believe in the Philippines even globally, people would like to live in a community like this,” Ms. Uy.
“When we started to plan this, we did careful feasibility studies for us to see the demand. We saw the opportunity and we were guided by these studies on what to expect and what would be next,” she added.
Early next year, the company expects to complete its first hotel within the mixed-use estate, which according to Ms. Uy will be managed by an international company she did not disclose.
The first hotel is the expansion of the existing South Palms Resort, also located in Panglao, and will have 188 rooms inside a six-hectare property. — Justine Irish D. Tabile
