by Maria Eleanor E. Valeros
caption: An article on Grand Residences Cebu’s groundbreaking that this blogger penned featuring its president Ryan Bernard Go.
CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES — Ten months after breaking ground, North Towers A and B of a five-towered Grand Residences Cebu (Banilad) have topped off. Ryan Bernard Go, president of Grand Land Inc., underscored that this is the company’s commitment: to make sure that two months after launch, project construction could get started and in less than a year after the groundbreaking ceremony, subject on drawing board becomes visible and tangible. “That’s our way of showing to the community how serious we are in our commitment in and outside of Cebu. We are one of the youngest real estate players, and one of the most dynamic, driven by the earnest desire to change Cebu’s real estate landscape with our brand of service. In 2015, we work with “#LiveGrand” at the core of that commitment.”
On how swift supposedly is turnover of units to homeowners
While it is good to provide solutions to varying needs for housing and shelter forms, there should be no shortcuts.
That retail industry and real estate are complementary
We can always put up a mall beside a housing development, or within, vice versa. The two industries are not actually separate, as every commercial center or mall has a real estate component in it. Everything should boil down to convenience these days. Parents who are already both working seek to live at the vicinity where they can work with less hassles, shop and dine and send their children to school away from the worsening traffic jams.
The aura of being hushed – never rushed!
“That’s because I work with the right team, good people, and I’m willing to learn,” Go beams. “I’m just so blessed to be working with the right people, excellent consultants, and I get to enjoy the very thing I love doing. Like you, di ba, writing is never taxing if you enjoy it. It’s the same thing with management – with overseeing this type of business. It’s more play than work if you get to love it. No amount of pressure can pull your spirit down. Yes, having national consultants is much costly but we don’t have to go through a long way with learning and we have also avoided the more expensive trial-and-error approach.
Work is love made visible (to point out a Kahlil Gibran wisdom)
I am very passionate about buildings. While I grew up exposed to the shipping industry, I was able to shape my passion for buildings. And as we are confident with our project, being a very good project because of its location primarily, the mother company (Gaisano Grand Group) is willing to shell out.
Hierarchical structure still works for you or would you rather go lateral, as is the trend in corporate settings today?
I still believe that there has to be one on top of the game. But I keep an open mind. Open-door policy, that has always been my leadership style. Even a janitor can voice out such a beautiful mind if given the chance. So I listen. For as long as one has a brilliant idea to share that would lead us to where we’re supposed to be headed, then I listen. In the process, I also grow in knowledge. I learn to deal with challenges one after the other. At the end of the day, we try to achieve happiness and harmony as is our corporate tagline.
#grandlivingcebu, #grandlifecebu, so is the Grand Corporate Tower
Structure-wise, this is to complement our brand positioning. We get to touch and tap other business entities. We are sensitive to the needs of startups that don’t need a big overhead. They can settle with an office table first. But this is not the so-ho type, I would emphasize. For as long as the Internet connections are powered for optimum use, which is really the top concern, I know they will be fine. As today, we can’t really be up and about without a helping of the Internet. So we adapt. Even in our marketing strategies, we have adapted to today’s standards. What worked 20 years ago won’t work anymore today, even with a team of professionals. We compel ourselves to catch up with technology, to always be active and knowledgeable of the trends. You might want to use the newspaper industry as an example at how we have to catch up with the next thing. Yesterday, we were compelled to pick up a paper and browse the news. Today, there’s just too much info, literally on hand, in the digital format, very accessible at our fingertips. All you have to bear in mind is to just be discerning about who or what to read.
Age of Collaboration, or still stuck with Age of Competition?
Well, at the end of the day, you would really want to watch over competition. It’s not really that hardcore competition though, because I discourage my team from engaging in loose talks about competing products. But I also make sure that even though we are a young player in the industry we are at par with those banking on the “most experienced” peg. Basta ang importante lang, we move in a complementary manner. Because it is important to have more players here; that encourages more creativity, dynamism, diversity, quality.
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Grand Residences Cebu (Banilad) is the flagship project of Grand Land, Inc. of the Gaisano Grand Group. Two of the five towers are set to be turned over to homeowners by 2015. Started in 2012, GLI is one of the youngest real estate players in Cebu but already prides in its Amani Residences (Mactan) and City Homes (Mactan, Mandaue and Minglanilla) projects.
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