In today’s dynamic and fast-paced world, where high productivity often leads to exhaustion, there is a growing desire to find retreat in an urban setting that caters to all our needs – a secure community that is easily accessible, offering a wide range of recreational facilities that enable us to relish life to the fullest. This is precisely the vision that Aseana City has meticulously crafted for families and enterprises alike – a masterfully designed community that embodies top-notch living standards, while providing seamless access to all modern amenities and world class public spaces.

Located along the picturesque shorelines of Manila Bay, Aseana City is a vibrant mixed-use development that spans an impressive 107.5 hectares. Developed by D.M. Wenceslao and Associates (PSE: DMW), one of the country’s leading integrated real estate developers and pioneers in land reclamation, Aseana City is dubbed as the ‘Next Generation City’ that offers a diverse range of residential, commercial, and leisure facilities.

About the photo: Stunning aerial view of Aseana City, showcasing its developments along Pres. D. Macapagal Boulevard

If you build it, they will come

In a well-designed city, one would expect to see fewer vehicles on the roads, secure and spacious sidewalks, and ample recreational amenities. Unfortunately, rapid urbanization and the lack of people-centric urban designs have led to the neglect of pedestrian facilities. As a result, people are often confined to narrow sidewalks, and the needs of private vehicles take precedence. Recognizing the lack of open spaces and safe pedestrian lanes in the country, D.M. Wenceslao has adopted a holistic approach to developing Aseana City.

“Horizontal pedestrian infrastructure is just as important as vertical real estate. As master developers of Aseana City, we see the last mile of pedestrian mobility as our responsibility. As the famous movie quote goes, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ In line with our commitment to sustainability, we are currently striving to establish the largest network of climate-protected sidewalks in the country,” said Delfin Angelo “Buds” C. Wenceslao, CEO of D.M. Wenceslao Group, emphasizing the company’s longstanding commitment to sustainable development.

Aseana City takes pride in having wider sidewalks which are shielded from inclement weather through a well-designed network of arcades, corridors, alleyways, and canopies. The creation of a climate-protected solution for pedestrians was made possible through the collaborative effort between DMWAI and its locators, with Aseana City’s design guidelines mandating the installation and construction of canopies and sky bridges. These structures are seamlessly interconnected, providing the walking public with an unparalleled walkability experience. With a pedestrian-centric philosophy in place, the vision is that one day one can walk from the LRT 1 Station at Redemptorist-Aseana City, stroll through Aseana City’s numerous landmarks and attractions, and walk all the way to the Manila Bay waterfront without having been exposed to heat or rain. Moreover, the estate is adorned with creative mural installations in various alleyways and buildings, further enhancing the ambiance and charm of the city.

Parqal – Aseana City’s Main Street

DMW’s flagship development of Parqal highlights the importance of effective accessibility and efficient mobility in Aseana City. With its design focusing on walkability and multiple entrance and exit points, Parqal serves as an excellent example of how urban planning can promote health and wellness and enhance the overall livability of a city.

About the photo: Parqal’s “floating canopy” made of ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) serves as the flagship spine of Aseana City’s sidewalk masterplan, covering about 5,000 sqm of the development’s linear greenway spine.

Parqal, a portmanteau of the words “Park” and “Kalye” (the Filipino word for street), is a sprawling five-hectare mixed-use development that boasts an impressive gross floor area (GFA) of 70,000 sq.m. The entire expanse of the development is enveloped by a “floating canopy” made of ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene), a sustainable material that is known for its natural light permeability, lightweight nature, and exceptional durability. This canopy serves as the flagship spine of Aseana City’s sidewalk masterplan, covering about 5,000 sqm of the development’s linear greenway spine. With multiple entrance and exit points, Parqal is designed to be porous, promoting an active lifestyle for both visitors and residents. The development offers an array of leisure activities, with lifestyle and retail shops offering everything from dining, fashion, and wellness to DIY options. Parqal is anticipated to open by Q3 of 2023.

Aseana City’s transformation from water into land is just the beginning of its ambitious journey towards creating a more aesthetically compelling and beneficial urban landscape. The city’s commitment to delivering world-class infrastructure, products, and services has established it as one of the most competitive central business districts in the metro. Aseana City’s strategic location, connection to key transport linkages such as the NAIA Expressway, LRT Line 1 Extension, and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx), is further enhanced by its focus on public security, open spaces, and walkway systems. These features combine to make Aseana City an irresistibly great and valuable urban destination. The city’s progressive approach to urban planning and development sets a high standard for other urban areas to follow.

MANILA, Philippines – South Korea coffee and dessert café O’ Mango Six has just opened shop in Metro Manila for the first time!

METRO MANILA BRANCH. Photo courtesy of O’Mango Six

The official franchise of the K-drama-famous spot opened its first Manila outpost in Aseana 3 Building, East Tower, Aseana Avenue, Parañaque City. The branch is open from 7 am to 11 pm daily.

BLENDED BEVERAGES. Photo courtesy of O’Mango Six

O’ Mango Six may be familiar to many K-drama enthusiasts – the iconic location has been used for several top-rated K-drama series like 2013’s The Heirs, 2012’s Gentleman’s Dignity, and 2015’s Kill Me Heal Me, where the mango cream smoothie, mango coconut, and mango strawberry smoothie were featured. The café will serve most of its signature beverage menu, with most of them made with fresh mango and Hawaiian Kona coffee.

HOT COFFEE. Photo courtesy of O’Mango Six

Guests can expect O’ Mango Six’s lattes, macchiatos, and americanos, as well as the Honey Americano, Coconut Coffee, and Oriental Latte. There’s also Lemonade, Citron Ade, and Aurora Ade, as well as fruit and yogurt smoothies, coffee-based “mangocinno” drinks, and non-caffeinated “mangocinno” drinks in mint mocha, java chip, Oreo, and green tea flavors.

BRUNCH OPTIONS. Photo courtesy of O’Mango Six

Pastries are also available, such as savory pretzels; pizza; butter bread in honey, garlic, or honey cheese flavors; and other brunch options. CEO of O’ Mango Six Lia Oh said that they conceptualized the Philippine food menu in a way that customers can “experience Korean drinks and desserts while still giving it a Filipino twist that they will enjoy.” – Rappler.com

Source: https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/food-drinks/k-drama-cafe-o-mango-six-metro-manila-paranaque-city/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwAR3kHpAzT_c2M0mJG5nSsnNNdggdEpJmj2t2__1WPeHzeLchYaBL0C8safc&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

The board of directors of D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc. in a regular meeting on March 15, 2023 declared cash dividends amounting to P0.07 per share, or a total of P254.6 million, representing an increase of 23 percent from a year ago.

DMW said it would pay the cash dividends on April 5, 2023 to all stockholders on record as of March 30, 2023.

This is the company’s fifth consecutive annual cash dividend and its highest since it publicly listed in June 2018. DMW said its continuously growing earnings and robust financial standing enabled it to sustain cash dividend growth while simultaneously being in a hyper-growth stage.

“Since our IPO, we have notched a long list of milestones including, among others, the completion of 8912 Asean Ave, our largest office development yet; our successful diversification to Makati City with 58 Jupiter; the successful turnover of our fully sold Pixel Residences, the signing of major land-lease locators, and the substantial progress in the construction of our flagship commercial development Parqal and our second residential project MidPark Towers,” said DMW chief executive Delfin Angelo Wenceslao.

“While executing on all these expansion initiatives, we simultaneously distributed consistent and growing annual cash dividends. This is a testament to the strength of our financial position, and it demonstrates our steadfast commitment to improving shareholder value,” he said.

Source: https://manilastandard.net/business/corporate/314315241/dmw-declares-highest-cash-dividend-since-ipo.html

FILIPINOS in Institutional Real Estate (FIIRE) held a 5-day conference in the Philippines for a delegation coming from the United States in mid-February.

FIIRE initially planned an inaugural event in the Philippines to commemorate the beginning of the Manila Chapter in February 2020, eventually pivoting to a virtual launch due to COVID-19.

The recent conference served as an opportunity to celebrate the inauguration of the Manila Chapter of FIIRE while allowing visiting FIIRE members the opportunity to explore the Philippines first-hand as originally intended.

Through launching a Philippines Chapter, FIIRE intends to do the following:

• Assist in attracting large institutions to invest in the Philippines;
• Cultivate a pipeline of talent by sharing best practices of the US specific to the commercial real estate industry;
• Create an exchange program that will bring Filipino students/professionals to train with institutional commercial real estate companies.

Buds Wensceslao hosted FIIRE USA delegates for a private tour of Aseana City.

The event included a welcome dinner hosted at a private estate in Forbes Park hosted by Monocle Group and Longview, a market introduction by AyalaLand, and real estate tours in various areas of BGC, Makati, Pasay City, and Aseana City hosted by NEO, AyalaLand, SM, and DM Wenceslao.

The main event was held on Friday, February 17 at the Shangri-La in Bonifacio Global City. Speakers included board members from the U.S. – Gloria Browning Gil, Jennifer del Rosario Taylor, Huber Bongolan, Barbara Faylona-Jesuele, and Ernie Ocampo. Economic and real estate updates were presented by Victor Calanog/Moody’s Analytics and David Leechiu/Leechiu Property Consultants. A keynote presentation was provided by Wick Veloso/GSIS.

Raymond Ruffino, Rene Benitez, Jennifer Taylor, Eric Manuel and Loy Umali attend a private reception hosted by Monocle Group and Longview.

The first panel discussion with Sheryll Verano/Arthaland Corporation, Mike Rodriguez/Macquarie Asset Management, and RB Roa/ATRAM touched on the growth of the Philippine real estate sector, highlighting how unprecedented capital is being sourced from both equity and debt markets.

Another panel featured Barbara Faylona-Jesuele/J. Paul Getty Trust, Jonathan “Loy” Umali/Arch Capital, and Paul Gately/EQT Exeter who all came in from different countries to discuss the key components institutional real estate investors analyze when entering new markets and potential partners. They also highlighted how institutional capital can provide advantages for local real estate developers to grow and scale their businesses.

A FIIREside chat moderated by Eric Manuel/Arch Capital and featuring Gloria-Browning Gil, co-founder of FIIRE, concluded the program. Through this chat, the audience discovered how FIIRE started, the importance of mentors, the rise of Gloria’s career, and her outlook on the industry.

Panelists Mike Rodriguez, RB Roa and Sheryll Verano in a discussion with moderator Jean De Castro.

Over the weekend, a Poblacion food and pub crawl was coordinated by Poblacion Land and Urban Development for the attendees to get a taste of the nightlife in the vibrant area that has rapidly been transforming over the past few years. The National Parks Development Committee hosted a tour of Intramuros and its rich history. The last day of the conference, delegates were invited to visit the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The conference concluded with a master class in collaboration with Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philippines, with speakers from the U.S. discussing real estate topics such as an introduction to institutional investing, debt market, underwriting, fund management, asset management, and much more.

Raymond Rufino welcomes his guests to Manila House at a private lunch hosted by NEO.

The events were made possible through the generous sponsorship of Arch Capital Management, D.M. Wenceslao and Associates, Manulife Investment Management, EQT Exeter, NEO, Leechiu Property Consultants, Monocle Group, Arthaland Corp, AyalaLand, Santos Knight Frank, CebuLand, Corebuilt, Grow Capital Partners, Romulo, KMC Savills, Colliers, Catellina Property Consultants.

FIIRE, or Filipinos in Institutional Real Estate, is a 501c3 trade organization started in the United States of America that focuses on networking, educating and mentoring Filipinos in institutional real estate. The organization was established in 2009 and has chapters throughout the US in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mid-South, New York City, New England, San Diego, San Francisco, Pacific Northwest and internationally in the Philippines.

Source: https://asianjournal.com/business/real-estate/fiire-holds-conference-for-us-delegation-in-manila/

To be considered for inclusion in the PSEi, a listed company should be among the top companies in terms of liquidity and market capitalization. It should also have a free float level of at least 20 percent of its outstanding shares. Relevant financial criteria as well as eligibility for early inclusion are also considered by the PSE in the index review.

“The 20 percent minimum free float requirement was implemented for all indices starting with this index review. We hope to see improved liquidity in the stock market with more shares available from companies that want to remain or qualify for future inclusion in any of the indices,” said PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon.

In terms of sectoral indices, PSE will replace East West Banking Corporation (EW) in the Financials index. Basic Energy Corporation (BSC) and The Keepers Holdings, Inc. (KEEPR) will be added to the Industrial index while Vitarich Corporation (VITA) will be removed. The Property index will have four new constituents namely D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Incorporated (DMW), Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILRT), MREIT, Inc. (MREIT), and RL Commercial REIT, Inc. (RCR). Meantime, Philippine Infradev Holdings, Inc. (INFRA) and Philippine Estates Corporation (PHES) will be excluded from the said index. AllDay Marts, Inc. (ALLDY) and Medilines Distributors Incorporated (MEDIC) will both become part of the Services index, which will also see the removal of Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. (MRSGI) and Philippine Seven Corporation (SEVN). Finally, the Holding Firms index will see the addition of Lopez Holdings Corporation (LPZ) while the Mining and Oil index will see the removal of Benguet Corporation (BC).

The PSE MidCap index will have a number of changes. The new index members are China Banking Corporation (CHIB), FILRT, MEG, MREIT, RCR, RLC and Synergy Grid & Development Phils., Inc. (SGP). The seven new PSE MidCap index constituents will take the place of AllHome Corp. (HOME), DDMP REIT, Inc. (DDMPR), DMC, Philex Mining Corporation (PX), Philippine National Bank (PNB), UBP and Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. (VLL).

For the PSE Dividend Yield index (PSE DivY index), Citicore Energy REIT Corp., (CREIT), UBP and Security Bank (SECB) will replace Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), DDMPR and FILRT.

From its March 28, 2022 launch to January 26, 2023, the PSE MidCap index has gained 4.5 percent while the PSE DivY index has lost 1.1 percent. In the same period, the PSEi was down 1.3 percent.

In August 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission included securities that make up the PSE DivY index among the eligible Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) investment products.

Source: https://www.pse.com.ph/dmc-and-ubp-to-replace-meg-and-rlc-in-pse/