THE Filinvest Group’s bid to gain a strong foothold to the high-end market is most apparent in Filinvest City, the premier business district of Southern Metro Manila.
Rising beside membership club The Palms Country Club patronized by Alabang residents, a luxury condominium complex developed by Filinvest Alabang Inc. (FAI) has half of its first tower already committed to buyers.
Within a 1.55-hectare lot, with a good vantage point of the emerging business district and the surrounding suburbs, the three towers of Botanika Nature Residences have been envisioned to be the centerpiece of an exclusive enclave that also includes residential subdivision Palms Pointe and a series of other towers where many expatriates now live.
The first Botanika tower, which carries the Exclusive Collection brand of the Filinvest Group will be completed by 2017.
According to Kate Ilagan, FAI executive vice president, Filinvest projects under the Exclusive Collection, the group’s highest-end category, will live up to the brand name. She explained: “By their very nature, Exclusive Collection projects will be few and far between.
They will be established in Filinvest City and other Filinvest locales to establish benchmarks for the area. These limited edition projects will prioritize priming values in the surrounding vicinity over high profit margins.” Botanika and other projects in its brand category form part of the Filinvest Group’s strategy to expand into the luxury market from the mid-income products and developments it has successfully established for the past five decades.
Priced lower than other luxury projects, Botanika has also been designed to offer value to its buyers being an authentic green development. Botanika’s footprint will occupy only 30 percent of the property to highlight a system of lavishly landscaped walkways and gardens that will differentiate the project from other ultra high-end developments in Alabang, Bonfiacio Global City and the South. A playground, amphitheater and swimming pool with various levels complete the project’s outdoor amenities. Amid the lush greenery, Botanika Tower 1’s 101 units—with units no smaller than 123 square meters will be open to nature while offering privacy to residents. From the top, each of the buildings takes the shape of a leaf. The unique configuration will mean that none of the units peer directly into a unit of a neighboring tower. At the center of each building will be an atrium that will let in natural light while forcing air up the tower for better ventilation.
The landscaped atrium will also be the focal point of each tower—with each one offering a unique experience. Unlike other high-end residential projects, Botanika has been very deliberately master planned to be a low-density community with a low floor area ratio (FAR) or the ratio of the total net floor area of a building to the total lot area.
“This simply means we are purposefully limiting the number of people who will live in this property—even if the land could take more buildings—so we can offer privacy and exclusivity,” Ilagan explained. Botanika’s FAR will be pegged at 3.5, which is far cry from the FAR 10 of Filinvest City’s busier areas that include a mix of residential, office and other uses. Botanika was conceptualized to attract captains of industry, self-made entrepreneurs and multinational CEOs. It was a collaboration among Leandro V. Locsin Partners as architect-of-record and foreign experts such as California-based Architecture International and AECOM as landscaping consultant. Its high take-up rate two years before completion serves as proof of the effectiveness of this strategy.
Ilagan disclosed that the Botanika master plan is not likely to be replicated in the South or elsewhere. She clarifies that top-end Filinvest Group projects that will be part of the Exclusive Collection will always be one-offs. “They lend character and prestige to a district and by virtue of those qualities will never become templates for us.”