A 21-hectare master-planned township called Saludad will offer the best of Bacolod, developed by top real estate firm Phinma Properties.
“We are very excited to be a positive change in the way Bacolod urbanizes,” president and chief executive officer Raphael Felix said in his message during the brand launch at the site along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road in Barangay Bata on Saturday night.
The P12-billion development, which showcases the masterplan designed by architect Royal Pineda, “reflects Bacolod’s evolving needs and honors its culture and natural beauty,” he said.
“We’re integrating the best of the City of Smiles in this township, embracing both heritage and modernity, which both the Bacolodnons and people from other places will love,” Felix said.
Saludad, as an integrated township address, has various components, including two residential enclaves, a business district, a town center or retail area with cafés, restaurants and shops, and a hospitality and education space.
Its fan-shaped masterplan references the three mountains which can be seen from the property – Mt. Silay, Mt. Mandalagan and Mt. Kanlaon.
Residential developments will comprise the Likha Estates offering prime lots in a meticulously designed community as well as the Phinma Maayo featuring mid-rise condominiums.
A 150-room Tryp hotel operated by Phinma Hospitality, the franchise holder of Microtel and Tryp by Wyndham brands in the Philippines, is the first building that will rise in Saludad, with the construction set to start in June 2025.
“Part of the whole design process is to dig into what is Bacolod, what is Negros. Especially of the Tryp, which is the first building that we will be putting up. It will spark and put a standard to everything. It will somehow show a glimpse of what the future of this development is,” Pineda said.
Saludad will also be home to Southwestern University’s first branch outside Cebu City, which is part of the Phinma Education network in the Philippines and Indonesia.
In a statement, Phinma Corp. chair and CEO Ramon del Rosario said the township will provide Bacolodnons and other locals more opportunities to improve their lives while finding their own community in Saludad.
“Bacolodnon culture immensely values family and community, the basic units of society that we, in the Phinma Group, mainly cater to,” he added. | PNA
