NAGA CITY -- Banker Fidel L. Cu, chairman of the G7 Holdings ..Corporation, has changed the landscape and stirred new trends in commercial development here when he built and opened in 2006 the Avenue Square, a commercial enclave designed as a lifestyle center.

        With a 65-room four-star designed hotel and a mix of bars, spas, diners, fitness and wellness center in its 2,000 square meters commercial spaces and 600-person capacity function hall, Cu’s Avenue Square has not only changed the city’s landscape but lifestyle as well.

        “Lifestyle center, as used in commercial development in the United States, is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall but with leisure amenities oriented towards upscale consumers,” as one website literature defines this newest trend in commercial development.

        Such commercial enclaves like Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City and Rockwell Center and Greenbelt in Makati are prominent examples of what lifestyle center is all about; a place where one can enjoy the so-called finer things in life that upscale clients cater.

        But in Naga City setting, the lifestyle center Cu built caters to middle class, upper-middle class and well-to-do clients yearning to bring friends, colleagues and associates in a high-end place where they can meet, transact business or just enjoy the amenities.

        Leah Andrea S. Soriano, chief executive officer of Lisam Automotive Sales & Services, told the Bicol Mail the Avenue Square has solved one of her usual difficulty of finding cool and neat place to meet and treat managers, supervisors and CEOs whom she deal with in their family enterprise.

Impact
        “This is the first lifestyle center in Bicol. Napakalakas ng impact dahil na-build niya ang image ng Naga. It certainly lives up to the standard of a lifestyle center,” Soriano declared.

        With their company the Bicol dealer of Nissan and Suzuki cars, she said company executives from other countries confer with her on regular basis and the latest meeting was at Avenue Square and confided she was glad her guests gave compliments to the place.

        Soriano, who regularly makes business travel outside the country, enthused that she finds the rooms of The Avenue Plaza Hotel better than several luxury hotels in Hongkong.

        “Every room is furnished with plasma television and no doubt the rooms at The Avenue Plaza Hotel are world-class including its three-floor fitness center,” she said and went on to confess that she’s a fitness buff and had actually enrolled there.

        Soriano revealed that the Avenue Square has opened up opportunities for them and reinforced their company’s business that had slacken the past years and thankfully regained sales peak because of the lifestyle center.

A and B crowd
        She said Cu’s commercial establishment has been instrumental in facilitating car sales because she said the A and B crowd, who are also their target clients, converge here.

        Soriano added that Avenue Square has directly improved their promotional pitch with its secure location ideal for car shows, of which the first one was held here last year she said.

        Engineer Emeterio Aman, real estate developer in Naga City, commented that the commercial development Cu pioneered has made him rethink and revise some components of the real estate development plan of one of his subdivision projects intended for A and B crowd.

        Aman revealed he has dropped the plan of building a two-story building that would provide hotel services in his project Hacienda de Naga because he said Avenue Square already offers that kind of service with its state-of-art hotel facility.

        He said: “What I will do now, instead, is build cabanas and fully-furnished hotel-like apartments to cater to clients who prefer not stay in a hotel but rather a place like home where the guests can cook their own organic food”. He added he is likely to develop a market-niche strategy to get a share of A and B crowds’ patronage in this city.

        Aman added that the development of amenities in his Hacienda de Naga project he would redesign to complement what the Avenue Square has.

New trend
        Aldolfo Olivan, of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) and the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCCI), acknowledged that Cu’s pioneering initiative has set a new trend in commercial development here.

        Olivan said that the Avenue Square has become instrumental in bringing in new experience because of its leisurely ambiance and comforts brought about by the architecture and interior design that sets it apart from other commercial establishments here.

        “Magayon baga. (It’s beautiful.),” he exclaimed.

        Impressed by the impact of the Avenue Square on the thriving commercial strip of Magsaysay Avenue here that changed the Naga City’s beat after a year operation, Olivan decided to develop his adjacent property following designs of commercial buildings that harmonizes with Cu’s lifestyle center.

        But Wilfredo Prilles, chief of Naga City Planning Office, bared that originally, Olivan planned to put up warehouses in the property in front of the Avenue Square but changed plan when advised the establishment of warehouses would destroy the ambience of the whole area and violates city zoning ordinance.

        Prilles said they were happy that Olivan heeded their advice and now he aligns with the kind of development Cu introduced in Magsaysay Avenue here.

        He said one reason why the Avenue Square thrives is the large segment of city’s middle-class while its poverty incidence is the lowest in Bicol, with only 1 out of every 5 households living below poverty line.

        Drawing lessons from recent development initiatives that are changing the lifestyle and landscape of the city, Prilles noted the decisive role of business sector in shaping the socio-economic and socio-cultural scenes here.

        He said that the city government has not anticipated the private sector’s track of commercial development in Magsaysay Avenue, far from the city government designated Central Business District II, that is yet to be developed, even though Shoemart plans to put up a mall there.

        Mayor Jesse Robredo noted that it cannot be denied that the Avenue Square has perked up the economic activities in the city at the same time that the introduction of lifestyle center experience has made the city more vibrant and tourist-friendly.

        In his inaugural policy statement upon assumption to his last term of office, Robredo cited for promotion the Avenue Square development because “it sets new trends in accommodations and other tourism services and facilities that are international standards”.

        Cu’s business achievements have earned recognition from the local government unit here when the Sangguniang Panglungsod passed Resolution No. 2007-260 that commended his “exemplary accomplishments and remarkable contribution to the business community that has brought sustainable growth and development of the City of Naga”.

        Last year the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry also bestowed to this banker and developer the 2006 Halayao (archaic Bicol for merchant) Award as Bicolano Businessman of the Year.

        At the helm of the Avenue Square’s operation is Cu’s son Allan, the president of G7 Holdings Corporation, while daughter-in-law Gwen, the managing director of the first lifestyle center here, runs the day-to-day business.