The developers building on solid foundations

1.
THE INTREPID CEO
Meean Dy
Manila, Philippines

Park Villas in Metro Manila is on course to become one of the Philippines’ most prestigious addresses. The 51-storey tower is being built in Makati, the capital’s salubrious central business district, by developer Ayala Land. With only one unit occupying each floor, the property’s luxury flats (or “villas”) are selling for more than €8.2m each.

“This country has never seen an offering like this,” says Meean Dy, Ayala Land’s 54-year-old ceo, speaking to monocle from her office a short walk from the Park Villas construction site. Dy attended the groundbreaking ceremony last July with a silver shovel in her hand. “We are continuing to test the limits of this market,” she says.

The high-end residential market in the Philippines is booming and Ayala Land is leaning into this sector – or, as Dy sees it, returning to its roots. The property firm – a listed former subsidiary of one of the country’s oldest companies, Ayala Corporation – master-planned and developed Makati after the Second World War, before branching out into more affordable homes catering to the country’s growing middle classes.

“The premium segment doesn’t rely on mortgages so it is less sensitive to interest rates,” says Dy, who is coming off the back of a “great year” (Ayala Land enjoyed double-digit growth in 2024) and expects more of the same over the next 12 months. Most buyers are Filipino but many of them work overseas. “Filipinos are global citizens,” she says.

The company has gone from being a net acquirer of land to averaging 800 hectares of new developments per year, serving consumers’ demands for convenience, sustainability and healthy living. Shopping centres are being overhauled, new office towers opened, hotels launched and residential estates developed.

The rapid pace of change might still not be fast enough for Ayala Land’s restless ceo but the long-term fundamentals are in the company’s favour. The Philippines is Southeast Asia’s second-fastest-growing economy, behind Vietnam. Meanwhile, the “business-friendly” government is tapping the private sector to fix the country’s notorious infrastructure problems. “We remain bullish about everything that’s going on here,” says Dy. “We have a young, productive population that will drive consumption and investment.”

Yuta Oka
Good Soil Inc, Japan

From hotels and cafés to a public bath, the projects of developer Yuta Oka and his company, Staple, have helped to rejuvenate areas across Japan facing major challenges such as depopulation. Now he’s joining forces with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank to create Good Soil Inc, which will bring together institutional investment and local stakeholders, and serve as an engine for sustainable development.

What does Staple do?
We create vibrant, high-density, walkable neighbourhoods. Our ambition is to spark excitement about places while nurturing their culture, nature and economy.

Tell us about your tie-up with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank.
We share the goal of creating ecosystems in which small-scale developments can thrive, mixing living with tourism. We invited Ken Isono, the ceo of renewables company Shizen Energy, to be a board director. Our aim is to integrate development with local energy production.

Which is more effective, the public or private sector?
Many municipalities in Japan are being forced to scale down services such as social welfare and infrastructure maintenance. Government and local authorities play a crucial role but the private sector has the agility and creativity to fill the gaps.
good-soil.inc

2.
THE LOCAL DEVELOPER
Larry McGuire
Austin, USA

Larry McGuire never set out to build a property portfolio. “We just wanted to buy old buildings, not knock them down, and house them with our businesses,” he tells monocle. But over the years, McGuire has amassed a collection of 24 restaurants, two shops and a hotel across the US with the firm that he co-founded, mml Hospitality. It’s in his home city of Austin where McGuire’s work is having the greatest effect. Last October, mml broke ground on a corner lot called Sixth & Blanco, the first Texas-based project for Swiss architecture practice Herzog & de Meuron.

The mixed-use neighbourhood includes a 57-key hotel, 10 apartment buildings, art galleries, a social club, restaurants and retail spots. The design weaves new construction around existing craftsman bungalows while creating public courtyards and passageways. McGuire’s ambition is to turn Sixth & Blanco into Austin’s ultimate high street.

The project is impeccably timed. It is taking shape against the backdrop of an extraordinary influx of people into Austin. The city’s growth and evolution are driven by the boom in its technology sector, which is keeping pace after more than 10 years. McGuire is catching that wave with his new development but is also trying to solve a conundrum. “How do we maintain the ‘Austinness’ of a project while doing something of an international design calibre?” he asks.

McGuire imagines residents of the affluent Clarksville district dropping by Sixth & Blanco for a pastry at the Swedish Hill Bakery, an mml brand, and rubbing shoulders with overseas visitors staying at the hotel. He hopes that shoppers from across the state will pull up for one-of-a-kind retail offerings too.

Austin is increasingly attracting out-of-town developers and this has given McGuire’s work a new sense of purpose. “As a local developer, our job is to maintain the integrity of what makes Austin cool,” he says. “This is still a great place for divey Mexican food even though there’s a Hermès shop. That’s the crux of what the city is going through.”
sixthandblanco.com

3.
THE FUTURE-FOCUSED FAMILY
Sordo Madaleno
Mexico City, Mexico

Sitting in his sleek Mexico City office, Javier Sordo Madaleno Sr explains how the work of his family architecture practice has closely tacked to the fortunes of his country. “My father founded Sordo Madaleno in 1937,” says the principal of both the firm and Soma, one of Mexico’s leading developers. “Then, in the 1960s, he developed this city’s first shopping mall at Plaza Universidad.” The practice flourished during Mexico’s golden era of economic growth, investment and urban development, creating some of the capital’s most important mixed-use environments.

The Mexican capital is again booming. In 2023 the city received €10.7bn in foreign direct investment, nearly a third of the record-breaking total that the country secured that year. But the path that the economy took to get to this point hasn’t always been smooth. Sordo Madaleno has thrived through downturns and other hurdles by focusing on high-quality developments in premium locations that are less affected by turbulence in the broader economy. Soma, the development firm that the family founded and took public in 2021, has also allowed it to self-fund projects and get them off the drawing board. “If you are creating real estate, you are thinking about the future,” says Madaleno.

Recent projects include the Park Hyatt complex, a 33-storey mixed-use development in the Polanco neighbourhood and the city’s Soho House social club. An expansive residential development in the capital’s fast-evolving Colonia Juarez area is now nearing completion. This expanding portfolio is well positioned to benefit from the capital’s uptick in tourism. “Today, Mexico City is far more dynamic than it was eight years ago,” says Javier Jr, one of Madaleno’s three sons who are partners in the business. “The gastronomy has changed and a lot of foreigners live here.”

Sordo Madaleno has long helped to guide Mexico City’s evolution but it is now also setting its sights on overseas expansion. Last year the firm opened a London outpost. “There are opportunities in the UK,” says Fernando, another of Javier’s sons, who heads up the new office. “We are working on projects in continental Europe too.” The dynamism that is drawing affluent new arrivals to Mexico City is piquing interest in Sordo Madaleno’s services in Europe and the Middle East. “People want to bring Mexican culture to other parts of the world,” says Fernando.
sordomadaleno.com