MANILA - Upscale property developer Anchor Land Holdings Inc. has acquired the historic Admiral Hotel along Roxas Boulevard from the Lopez-Araneta family as part of its planned P4-billion investment in the Manila Bay area.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said it made the acquisition through wholly-owned subsidiary Manila Tower Development Corp., which bought 249,999 shares of Admiral for P258.65 million and paid off P101.35 million of its debts.

Anchor Land said it used internal funds and borrowings from China Banking Corp. to pay for the acquisition.

The owners who decided to unload the property were led by Jose Ma. Lopez and Ma. Victoria A. Concepcion. The latter is the daughter of Dona Victoria Lopez Araneta, who built the hotel along with husband Don Salvador Araneta in 1938. 

Anchor Land was represented by Chairman Stephen Lee, who personally negotiated the acquisition with Mr. Lopez.

The parties signed all pertinent documents last Friday, June 26, at the Anchor Land offices in Makati, concluding weeks of negotiations.

In a statement, Anchor Land Vice Chairman Steve Li said the company would redevelop Admiral into a boutique hotel, as well as put up an upscale residential condominium beside the original structure, with a resulting twin tower development.

Li said the acquisition would mark the company’s foray into the Roxas Boulevard area, where it intends to invest P4 billion over the next few years.  

He added that the Admiral Hotel investment is part of Anchor Land’s strategy to strengthen its position in the upscale condominium market. He said the hotel’s historic past will be a prime consideration in the development plans.

The company earlier earmarked P2.5 billion for capital expenditures this year, mostly for the acquisition of properties in various areas in Metro Manila for future development.

Li said that aside from Admiral Hotel, other big projects in the pipeline include the 55-storey Anchor Sky Suites in Binondo, Manila, which is to become the tallest structure in the Chinatown district.

Completed in 1939, the Admiral Hotel has seen the tenure of 11 Philippine presidents--from President Manuel L. Quezon to President Fidel V. Ramos.

The Admiral Hotel served as the center of Manila’s elite during the pre-war colonial era, and as such hosted the most distinguished visitors in the country at the time, including former US President Herbert Hoover, Britain’s Lord Mountbatten, and General Douglas MacArthur, to name a few.