Japanese firm to build retirement village in Legazpi
“My firm has chosen Legazpi City for this project because of its friendly character, ideal location, peaceful environment, accessibility through major modes of transportation, and the cooperativeness of the local government,” Takeda said in a meeting with city officials. He also emphasized that Legazpi is the sister city of the city of Chosi in Japan.
“This retirement center, a tourism- and investment-oriented venture, would strengthen the cityhood pact between your city and ours, notwithstanding the thousands of miles of distance separating them,” Takeda added. Mayor Rosal said the project will be big boost for tourism not only in the city but the entire province of Albay, which would host not only the retirees, but also their relatives from Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
The retirement center will sit in a vast beachfront property of over three hectares in Barangay Puro in the upper southeastern section of the city overlooking Albay Gulf. About a hundred residential-commercial houses will be constructed in the site that would accommodate not less than 200 retirees, Rosal said. The site is next to the
Luxcess was also encouraged to do business here because of the business-information center and foreign- investment office maintained by the city government through its web site, in cooperation with the information- technology department of Bicol University (BU), Rosal said. To ensure the growth, viability and long-term continuity of the center, he said the Close-Up Legazpi Club would be organized with free membership for foreign retirees and serve as the machinery for the promotion, operation and sustainability of the project.BU, its main campus at the heart of the city and college of agriculture in the nearby Guinobatan town of Albay, also agreed to help the retirement center establish an agriculture-investment program that would introduce microbiological-farming technology to its members, Rosal said. The technology produces high-value crops like vegetables, fruits and root crops the retirees would eat as part of a healthy diet, he said.
“We do not have yet the exact idea as to how much investment Luxcess is infusing into this project and its vital components, but we are sure it would cost several hundreds of millions of pesos,” Rosal said, noting that it usually takes that much money to put up a modern retirement village for wealthy Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese retirees. The project already satisfied the requirements of the Philippine Retirement Authority and completed all other pre-implementation processes, paving the way for it to start in March, he added.
Source: BusinessWorld
Wow, very interesting..this is a sign that Legazpi is really moving forward. BUT, do you ever ask Mayor Rosal about where the residents of Brgy. Puro will go? It is not mentioned in your post.
At the same time, this is funny because Legazpi will have a retirement village for some Asians, yet the natives of the town – the Legazpeños are losing their homes. Look at what Embarcadero is doing, they demolished houses to make way for a new road. Telling people that they will be relocated.
First thing that they should do is relocate the Legazpeños, give them their new homes before you demolish their homes. And then go, they can make these improvements for as much as they want.
Just my 2 cents.
Yes, development should be equitable. I wonder what the city government has to say about this issue.
There are areas in Legazpi Ciity that is being overlooked for this type of community. One that stands out is Estanza. It is closer to the upcoming Bicol International Airport (assuming a road from Estanza is connected to the Maharlika Highway through Kiwalo, Daraga, Albay). Estanza has a higher elevation, Tagaytay type of serenity, cool breeze. If you think Lignon Hill (did I spell that right) has a beautiful view of Legazpi, Old Albay, Daraga, Mt. Mayon and Albay Gulf, you should visit Estanza. There are drawbacks: A need to construct wider roads (there are existing roads to Estanza), water supply (can easily be resolved with reservoir or connect water supply with Daraga through Kiwalo again). There are advantages: Estanza is an excellent area for Legazpi to expand to. Away from Mt. Mayon harmsway (eruptions and river flooding). Will provide Legazpi a Baquio City like section of the city (develop on existing topography or build residential and commercial buildings that blends with the topography). Providing infrastructure in Estanza could be useful to the community when and if Daraga and Legazpi merge. Thus, I suggest that we should show Estanza to the consultants.
I agree with you. From what I’ve seen in photos taken from Estanza, the view is indeed spectacular. Also Estanza is still sparsely populated , thus developments such as these are less likely to meet opposition from residents unlike in Puro, for instance.
I hope the city government will create a master plan for the development of this portion of Legazpi. The new road that is reportedly being built from Old Albay District to Estanza is a start.
I hope there is truth to the road “reportedly” being build from Old Alby District to Estanza. This road should go all way to the very heart of Estanza. Building a master plan for this portion of Legazpi City is a “must do” agenda for City Hall. With the advent of the Bicol International Airport (BIA)and hopefully a road connecting Estanza with the Maharlika Highway, Estanza will be the gateway to Legazpi with spectacular view. I don’t see Legazpi expanding towards Manito simply because you have to be closer to airports and railways. Not to mention that residents prefer the uplands of Albay. Case in point is the success of subdivision developments in the mountains of Daraga where Aquinas University plans to move… away from Mt.Mayon’s harmsway and river flooding.