REAL-estate development is a business of public trust and patience. It’s an industry where players build and reinforce a reputation through innovative thinking, foresight and the determination to create ripples of positive impact to the world we live in.
I’ve learned all of these more than a decade ago while working with passionate people from the real-estate sector, like Chris Narciso. Our paths crossed a long time ago and, since then, I’ve had a huge admiration for his advocacy to serve the “great unserved” through the real-estate business. That’s why when I learned that he recently moved to a new company (he recently joined ACM Landholdings Inc. as chief operations officer in April), I told myself it’s about time I reconnect with one of the guys I look up to for his drive and passion to do well by doing good.
I have always believed in Narciso’s personal mission to help our fellow Filipinos bring to fore—their dream of owning a home. That’s also the reason I was, perhaps, the last person to be surprised by his latest move.
Twenty-five years ago ACM was founded by three visionary women—Antonette de Guzman, Carol Osteria and Mia Gentugaya—as a way to give back to the Philippines and their fellowmen, following their own success in their respective fields. Fast-forward to today, the company has successfully built more than 12,000 homes, mostly in Cavite and Batangas, with a higher, noble idea that’s aligned with Narciso’s own thrust: enrich lives by building homes, strengthening communities and securing the sustainable future of Filipino families.
Building communities through ‘power partnerships’
A real-estate company providing affordable homes to the underserved market—the low- to middle-class segments—ACM has continued to thrive in the business by banking on what Narciso calls “power partnerships.”
A decade ago ACM started providing corporate housing solutions by partnering with several local companies. This became a way to help them (partner-companies) further their missions of retaining their work force and helping their employees establish a secure foundation for their families’ future. Among the first companies they worked with was Philippine Transmarine Carriers Inc. (PTC), one of the Philippines’s largest and oldest crew-management companies.
During our interview, Narciso, who was accompanied by Angelina “Gina” Magsanoc, ACM Group vice president for business development and marketing, shared that ACM spent a significant amount of time probing for relevant insights from seafarers’ families. “Since most of the fathers are away for prolonged periods of time, it’s really the mothers who are left to manage the home and look after the welfare of the families,” Magsanoc said. “That was the reason why, in our projects like the Pacific Terraces Community South in Imus, Pacific Terraces North in Clark, and Mahogany Place Lipa, we took into consideration a lot of factors like security, accommodations for extended family members and instantly livability.”
Building beyond expectations, Magsanoc explained that they ensured that the roads in all their properties are built wider than the standard to allow emergency vehicles to easily navigate around the area when needed. Aside from this, PTC also put in a greenhouse facility as a standard feature, where homeowners can build closer ties by growing their own food. “They can also sell their own produce for profit at the organic market or expand their venture after learning from our financial-literacy seminars, both organized by our marketing team every quarter,” Magsanoc added.
There’s also a bamboo park and a reading room, where children are encouraged to engaged in active and creative play while interacting with others. These facilities are now being kept as standard features of all ACM communities to be built in the future.
These are just a few examples of how ACM puts a premium on promoting a human-centric design philosophy that goes beyond the usual comforts any ordinary residential development can offer. “When you have limited space, your edge lies at reimagining spaces to provide greater value to the families,” Narciso explained. “These extraordinary features are not grand, but they really matter a lot to the buyers because these are fine-tuned to their needs. This is our way of really supporting and enhancing the lifestyle of the buyers to make sure that they can focus on the things that really matter.”
‘Best in class’ customer service
Narciso also shared that, in the next five to 10 years, ACM will be working on elevating their standard of customer service to promote high-value customer interaction. “Our market is usually first-time property owners, so now we’re expanding our pool of customer-relations specialists to assist buyers in the entire home-buying cycle,” Narciso explained. “From documentations, pre-screening, to overseeing different homebuilding phases, we see to it that we attend to their every single need so they won’t have to bother with all the little things.”
As most of their clients have breadwinners who work overseas, Narciso shared that what they do is give them (families) a real-estate journey booklet that guides them accordingly on significant milestones of their home-buying journey. “We even send them photos of construction updates on their properties while they are out of the country. That way, we make sure that we are able to take care of their in-person and digital customer journey even if they’re miles away from home.”
Bright prospects ahead
As the company celebrates its 25th year in the industry this July, Narciso said they are very keen on expanding their reach beyond Luzon. At the moment, plans are under way to build the first ACM communities in the Visayas through Iloilo and in Mindanao via Davao.
Narciso revealed ACM will be pursuing its efforts to grow nationwide by crafting its own design and sustainability philosophy. Based on its initial market research for its Visayas foray, among the things that popped out are the Ilonggos’ desire to enjoy their own culture, their love for their heritage and a preference for bigger property areas. Hence, these insights will prove helpful in how ACM will localize its products to fit the markets in its future locations.
“The affordable market segment is so broad and so underserved. Despite all the work that the industry puts in, the backlog is still there and hasn’t diminished by a bit,” Narciso added. “This market segment comprises the biggest demand, so if we continue to ensure that we are able to contribute significantly in the future, then we are doing our part in nation-building.”
Image credits: ACM Homes web site