“Metro Manila is not a mistake; it was just not designed for today,” declares Guillermo Choa, president and chairman of Property Company of Friends, Inc. (Pro-Friends). In a city plagued with problems of land use, utility requirements, and—most pressing—traffic management, Choa seeks to approach Pro-Friends projects with foresight and forward planning. “We see the challenges in Metro Manila,” he says. “We want to make sure we do not add to them.”
Covering some 1,700 hectares over Imus, Kawit, and General Trias, Lancaster New City (LNC) in Cavite has applied all these hard-earned lessons. A gated development embodies the company’s vision of the live-learn-work-play-pray lifestyle.
“The idea is to give families time to spend with one another,” Choa emphasizes. “People are living in faraway places and need to commute every day. They spend so much time away from each other. Lancaster provides an environment where people can live as a family…We’re creating an environment where you can live comfortably. Living life should not be complicated.”
LNC is designed to have different development components to encourage residents to actually live within the city limits and to avoid road congestion from happening. These include Suntech iPark, Lancaster Square 1, Leighton Hall Clubhouse, the Church of the Holy Family, and Saint Edward School.
A dream of many lifetimes
Choa foresees a time when Lancaster New City’s development density will increase exponentially.
“We will see buildings coming up,” he predicts. “Office buildings, residential buildings, malls, universities; we anticipate this growth.”
Because the timeline calls for a 50-year development, Choa, who recently turned 60, knows these are dreams for the next generation to fulfill.
He is confident the vision will live on, even as he prepares to pass the torch:
“The organization is getting ready to pass on the reins early. Unless the older tree is willing to allow the younger trees to get the sun they need, the small trees aren’t going to grow and spread.”
