BIZ BUZZ: Shelved ALI condo: Buyers get 3 options
Even with buyers already lining up, Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) still decided to hit the brakes on one of its most ambitious Makati luxury projects.
About 33 percent to 34 percent of units at luxury condominium development Laurean Residences had already been sold before the Zobel-led property giant paused the project until April 2027, ALI chief finance officer Jose Emmanuel Quimpo told Biz Buzz.
ALI has cited rising cost pressures and uncertain delivery timelines as factors affecting its ability to execute the project with the level of certainty expected by buyers.
However, no construction contract has been signed, which makes it easier to hit the pause button.
Buyers already inside the project are handed three choices: Stay and wait, despite uncertain delivery timelines; transfer to another Ayala Land project with incentives, or take a full refund.
Quimpo himself admitted that maintaining buyer trust was “paramount,” suggesting the company was more focused on preserving long-term relationships than forcing a launch into an unforgiving market.
Still, ALI is hardly sounding alarm bells.
Even without major new launches, the company said it still booked around P24 billion in residential sales in recent quarters.
“Property development, there is demand for that. That will not go to zero,” Quimpo said.
To be fair, ALI is not walking away from Laurean altogether. Quimpo stressed that the project remains strategically important given its location within the company’s Makati estate.
“We love Makati,” he said.
Still, the decision to pause a project that was already a third sold may quietly reveal a larger shift in the property sector: Even the country’s biggest developers are now prioritizing certainty over speed.
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