CREIT expands Bulacan, South Cotabato properties

By Myrna M. Velasco – March 16, 2022, 3:56 PM
from Manila Bulletin

Citicore Energy REIT Corp. (CREIT), a pioneering energy firm in real estate investment trust listing, is advancing on its portfolio shoring up with the infusion of Bulacan and South Cotabato properties into its fold.

The company indicated that the proceeds it fetched from its recent initial public offering (IPO) “will be used to acquire the Bulacan and South Cotabato properties worth P1.754 billion and P753.8 million, respectively.”

CREIT emphasized that upon acquisition, the firm “will be generating leasing income from these properties over a long-term period of 25 years,” and that will also subsequently jack up its total leased area by 20-percent.

In particular, the Bulacan property in San Ildefonso town that is owned by Citicore, spans around 253,880 square meters — and it is a site to a 15-megawatt solar power installation that has been operating since 2016.

The enticing prospects for that property, according to CREIT, are anchored on its proximity to the planned central business district (CBD) in the area as well as future New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan.

For the South Cotabato property, that stretches through 79,997 square meters of land that is also owned by Citicore; and it is hosting a 6.23MW solar farm facility that has been on commercial stream since 2015.

“The two properties will contribute 21-percent to CREIT’s total lease revenues and bring total operating capacity of all its tenants to 145MWdc from pre-IPO’s capacity of 124MWdc,” CREIT specified.

Additionally, Citicore has completed its 6.5MWdc solar photovoltaic (PV) rooftop installation at the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) which has been partly providing the energy needs of locators in that economic zone.

The other assets due for integration into CREIT will be phase 1 of the Arayat solar project of Citicore; and that will be followed by the facility’s phase 2 – which altogether will yield aggregate capacity of 114MWdc.

“These are targeted to be infused into CREIT upon completion, commissioning, and commercial operations,” the company stressed.

Citicore further conveyed that “these properties were the subject of due diligence and were recommended for acquisition by the fund manager, the Citicore Fund Managers, Inc. (CFMI),” and that has already secured the company’s board approval last March 9.