Real Estate Development
There are two existing residential subdivisions in Baras: Hillside Homes and Bluestar. They are adjacent to each other in Barangay Concepcion near the Manila East Road and accessed by Latigo Drive. Bluestar consists of 1,615 low-cost housing units and occupies a total of more than nine hectares (see Table10). Hillside Homes was put up by the Shell plant in Pililla to house its employees, but no further information was supplied by the municipality and the homeowner’s association contact person.
Four more residential developments are in various phases of development. One is the Pinugay Resettlement Subdivision of the National Housing Authority. Site development for 390 housing units had been started but eventually about 2,000 units will be built. The Municipality of Baras is requesting that 300 units be reserved for the relocation of its squatters. This was subsequently, co-developed by the Habitat for Humanity Foundation. Another residential subdivision in Pinugay along the Marikina-Infanta Road is being developed by the Bluestar company but it contends that the site is already within the Municipality of Tanay and declined to give details on the project. GIS mapping based on Cadastral data has clearly shown that the subdivision is still within Baras’ jurisdiction. This project, which seems inappropriately built in the hilly to mountainous portions of the town, with slopes possibly above 15%, is intended for employees of DENR, DILG, and other government agencies. It seems quite ironic that this development was supported by National Government , particularly the DENR, in an area that, by law is non-buildable due to its terrain. The third residential subdivision would be the future expansion of the TAT Golf Course, or what is to be known as the TAT Golfhill Subdivision. Fourth amongst this housing development programs is the Palo Alto Subdivision being developed by giant, Sta. Lucia Realty Corp., in the property used to be known as Milestone Farms of the Vera Family. It was being used before as a poultry and piggery farm, and is near other existing similar agri-industrial plants such as Lucio Tan’s Foremost Farms, RFM, etc. Further assessment of the last two subdivision projects is necessary as to the appropriateness of their locations vis-à-vis the Land Use Plan and actual physical conditions.
The residential sector is an integral component of any land use plan. Nowadays, more and more residential expansion, especially for a suburban town, comes in the form of planned unit developments (PUDs) or subdivisions. A thorough inventory of existing and future PUDs is therefore crucial in a land use planning process. This inventory is then compared vis-à-vis the demand and the vision of the community. It should be checked if there is the possibility overbuilding. Are we giving up valuable agricultural land just to house migrants? Do the Baraseñans want their town to be another suburban municipality choking with subdivisions? A research paper made by Alvin Lacambacal in 1998 on the economic development preferences of key informants regarding the Municipality of Baras showed that low-cost housing is as important to them as crop cultivation, scoring a one hundred percent approval rating. On the other hand, high-end residential subdivisions ended way below the list with an approval rating of only fifty-three percent.
The improvement of the Marikina-Infanta Road will dramatically increase the town’s accessibility to and from Antipolo City and Metro Manila. With accessibility comes the phenomenon called urban spill. Businesses would weigh their transportation costs and would realize that locating inside the municipality is feasible. Real estate developers would look at the cheap land prices, relate them with the housing demand of those employed at the two highly urbanized areas, and would not hesitate to invest in the town. Baras would undoubtedly face pressures to convert its land not only into residential subdivisions but also maybe into industrial parks, business parks, commercial centers, resorts and golf courses, and other PUDs. Zoning ordinances and density restrictions should be in place beforehand and strictly enforced to avoid land use conflicts which, once it happens, might prove to be almost impossible to rectify.
Source: Baras Comprehensive Land Use Plan
