Serving Local Communities, Building the Future: Jose Soberano III, Chairman and CEO of Cebu Landmasters, Inc.
Discover how family values, a commitment to Cebu, and service to local communities across the Philippines has fueled the remarkable growth of Cebu Landmasters.
The story of Cebu Landmasters, Inc (CLI) is one of phenomenal growth. In less than 20 years since the company was founded by Jose Soberano III, its Chairman and CEO, the company became the leading residential developer in the Visayas and Mindanao. And today, 21 years after it was founded, its growth shows no signs of slowing down. Yet in the midst of the ever-increasing number of groundbreaking CLI projects, the story of Jose Soberano III is one of a singular real estate developer with a local heart, a son of Cebu, a family man, dedicated to serving the needs of communities where CLI is building the future of the Philippines.
Today, Cebu Landmasters has more than 100 projects in different stages of development in 16 key cities across Visayas and Mindanao. Primarily, CLI provides housing needs to the high, middle, and socialized segments across the South, with its first project in Luzon breaking ground this year. Beyond housing, CLI has also expanded into resorts and leisure, building hotels in Cebu, Davao and Bacolod. With more and more new projects every year, CLI is poised for inevitable further growth.
It wasn’t always so. In its early days, Cebu Landmasters was, perhaps, too small to take on established real estate giants. It was the first entrepreneurial venture of Jose Soberano III, who was, arguably, too old at the time. Yet, from small beginnings, CLI grew from project to project, posting PHP15.657 billion in revenues in 2022. And it achieved all of this by focusing on serving local communities.
The Business Manual spoke to Jose “Joe” Soberano III on the night when he was honored as one of the country’s top 20 CEOs in The Business Manual CEO Awards. Read on to learn more about what he has to say about the keys to his success.
A Fresh Beginning
Like many entrepreneurs, Joe Soberano’s entrepreneurial journey did not move in a straight line. There were false starts and changes in direction before he found success.
Prior to the founding of Cebu Landmasters, Joe Soberano had a 23-year long career with Ayala Land where he rose to Senior Division Manager at Ayala Land and Vice President of Cebu Holdings. And it was here where he gained mastery of the real estate industry.
“When I was with Ayala,” he recalls, “I was part of the development team. We started to help in Cebu. We developed this park, the Ayala Park. That helped me in my training and full understanding of the real estate world.”
In 2001, Soberano decided to leave his career in Ayala Land and move to public service. He chose to run as a representative of the third district of Cebu province. “After being in Ayala for 23 years… I wanted to move on with the invitation of some very influential politicians. I took a run for Congress,” Soberano explains.
Unfortunately, Soberano did not win in 2001, but, undeterred, he considered running again in 2004. It was during these years when a unique opportunity arose.
“I stumbled [onto] this real estate opportunity. And that, for me, was something I just wanted to try a bit. There was no plan at all,” Soberano admits. He acquired a three hectare property in Balamban, a district where he had run and lost.
“I found this property and I thought that it would be a good complement for the Tsuneichi shipbuilding that had been going on for some time in Balamban. It was the shipbuilding capital, so to speak, in the Philippines.”
It was here where Joe Soberano built his first housing development. He named it San Josemaria Village after his patron saint, St Josemaria Escriva.
“Instead of these people looking for homes and having to lease properties outside, here was your property which is just close by. So that's the project that clicked for me and that told me, ‘Ah, should I continue this and not push anymore for [politics].’”
In 2003, Jose Soberano III founded Cebu Landmasters, Inc., and from there, there was no turning back.
A Formula for Future Success
With the Balamban housing development, Soberano also found the formula that would serve the future success of his company: building housing where there was industry. After the Balamban project, he built another housing development in Toledo, a city close to a mining operation for copper carbon.
Soberano says, “I built a housing project, affordable, on areas where there is industry. So there was a shipbuilding business there in Balamban, and there was also that mining company that's been there for years in Toledo City.”
It was all about serving these industrial communities and answering their need for quality, affordable housing. At the same time, it was about focusing on how to serve these communities in Cebu until CLI grew to serve communities across the Visayas and Mindanao.
From there, one successful project led to other successful projects. Soon, Cebu Landmasters had a handful of projects simultaneously and expanded further to build residential condominiums.
“So we became the first residential condo in Cebu,” Soberano recalls. “So well, it also succeeded. One thing led to another, I had already two or three housing projects in Cebu. And then I followed up this project…and another one we call Midori residences. So one thing led to another.”
Speaking about the growing success of Cebu Landmasters with its projects, Soberano says, “It's a field [where] you must have confidence because things lead here or there.” But he insists that growing the company was not a risky venture. “It's not just really making a jump on it, or there was some gamble,” he adds. “But the idea really is when you see things moving smoothly, there was really a feel for more projects to succeed. That's when I really went on.”
Funding Expansion, Going Public
In 2017, Cebu Landmasters was listed publicly on the Philippine Stock Exchange.
Soberano explains that CLI’s early success led to talks with their bankers about the possibility of going public as far back as 2013. “They looked at our records, our performance, you see the depth to lead. At the same time, the kind of good governance that we really tried to exercise that was the biggest convincing factor. And we took the advice of our bankers.”
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) raised PHP2.8 billion for the company.
