On Dec. 29 the purchase of the Ladera Tower by LTA LLC from Goldstar Corp. was finalized. It was purchased for $33.5 million. Fong S. Wu partner in LTA LLC and president of Sunny Plastic (Guam) Inc. and Pacific Sunny Development Corp. told the Journal that LTA bought the Ladera Tower because "We would like further facilitate and welcome the military that are coming to Guam and serve the locals."
The Ladera Tower was a hotel/apartment complex but Wu said that Goldstar shut down the facility’s hotel operations in November. "Right now they are apartments. Before it was an apartment/hotel and it is to be converted into condominiums. "
Wu called the Ladera Tower a full amenity deluxe condo with many features other apartments do not have such as a swimming pool security a gym and a deluxe lobby three elevators and abundant parking.
According to Wu the Ladera Tower is one of best-maintained and well-constructed buildings on the island. "The building has gone through three major typhoons and one major earthquake over the last 12 years and it’s still in very good shape."
The building also comes equipped with a full day’s supply of water and a diesel-powered generator which can provide full backup power for a week and two backup generators. Ladera Tower’s location on an elevated area makes it the highest building on Guam and the place on island where one can see both the Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
All the tenants will remain and LTA will take over their lease. "The tenants will continue to be served by the new owners and we will be expanding our capacity to take on new tenants by shutting down the hotel operations " Wu Said. The building consists of 218 three four and five bedroom units. Of the 218 units 45 were designated for the hotel. Those 45 units will be converted for apartment use. Wu said that all of the employees on the apartment side would be kept. The Ladera Tower has an 89% occupancy rate for its apartment units and Wu said that 80% of the buildings tenants are military.
He said the fact that LTA is a local company reinvesting and pumping money back into Guam shows its confidence in the island’s improving economy. "We’ve gone through a slump over the last seven years. Now the Asian economy has seen growth and that increased our tourism arrivals. The military will be expanding and there will be more demand from military personnel."
LTA is discussing what improvements need to be made but no plans have been finalized.
LTA LLC’s partners include Cencio Tan C. Vy owner of Benson Do it best; David Su vice president of the Royal Orchid Guam; the Lin Family represented by Vincent Lin; and the Wang family represented by Tiffany Wang.
The Ladera Tower is a 21-story concrete building on about 25 000 square meters. It has 18 multipurpose areas including storage and meeting areas two tennis courts a swimming pool a restaurant café Jacuzzi 444 parking stalls and a fitness area. Each unit is equipped with a garbage disposal dishwasher washer and dryer hook ups an oversized Jacuzzi tub and wall to wall carpeting.
W. Nicholas Captain president of the Captain Co. and Captain Realty Advisors told the Journal "It’s a quality design and there are some features that you don’t typically at residential complexes in secondary locations. It’s always had a strong appeal in the military rental sector and that’s because the units are relatively large it’s wonderfully self-contained and it has wide variety of amenities including a water park."
According to Journal sources Bridge Capital USVI LLC a Virgin Islands company supplied LTA LLC with a bridge loan for the purchase of Ladera Tower. The Journal contacted Jon A. Anderson associate with Bridge Capitol and director of public relations for Guam Greyhound who confirmed the loan. He said that Bridge Capital assisted with the purchase of the Ladera Tower with a $25 million loan. Wu said that the loan was a 30-day bridge loan and LTA is working with a local bank to refinance the loan. MBJ
