5,000-unit housing project, Sigua Highlands, yet to start any construction 10 years after GLUC approval (2024)

A prospective 5,000-unit housing development in central Guam that could accommodate some 17,000 residents has yet to get off the ground 10 years after the government green-lit the project, but plans for the massive development are still alive.

Located on over 1,100 acres of land just north of LeoPalace Resort Guam, a master plan for the Sigua Highlands development project got the Guam Land Use Commission’s approval back in 2014.

Project representative and consultant Dan Swavely said that Stephen Tebo, who owns the property through Colorado-based company Hafa Adai Investments Inc., has been looking for a partner to develop the property since acquiring it about seven years ago.

“We’ve had multiple inquiries over the last 10 years, no big players,” Swavely said, but no deal has gone forward yet. “This is not today. It’s 25 to 50 years in the future for full development.”

The Sigua Highlands property cuts across Asan, Chalan-Pago Ordot, and Yoña, and was the biggest rezoning project in Guam history when it first went up before the GLUC in 2013, according to Swavely.

About 800 acres of the property, which straddles the road to Leo Palace, has been zoned for development.

This comes at a time when Guam is short of housing, which is expected to get worse when thousands of Marines, their families and support personnel, start major relocation from Okinawa to Guam, along with other military projects.

To be built up in stages

The Sigua Highlands development zone is split into five different parcels, which can each accommodate between 750 and 1,250 housing units, for a total of 5,000, according to the project’s master plan.

Swavely said the parcels would be built up in stages, depending on the developer.

Using the average household size in the 2020 census of Guam, the 5,000-unit Sigua Highlands project area would have about 17,200 residents, he said.

If Sigua Highlands were built today, it would be big enough to be the fourth largest village on Guam, bigger than Mangilao and dwarfed only by Tamuning, Yigo, and Dededo.

“It’s basically like one giant village,” said associate project representative Kyle Borja.

Plans for the area include parks and commercial areas dispersed around the property.

There’s even space set aside for community buildings like a police station, fire station, educational facilities, and other public buildings.

Swavely has been reporting with GLUC on an annual basis about the property, but said the only change that’s happened since 2014 has been the sale of about 2.5 acres to a neighboring farmer.

The owner, Tebo, is willing to stake the land as his contribution to the project, in exchange for a proportional cut of the development, according to Swavely.

Tebo wants a partner to take lead on building the area up, Swavely added.

What units on the property look like—condos, apartments, or single family homes—will all be up to the developer that decides to jump in on the project, Swavely told the Pacific Daily News.

There’s flexibility to decide “as long as you don’t go over 5,000 front doors,” he said.

Plans do include space for two multi-story condominium towers to be built in the center of the development, in the “Sigua Town Center.”

There are a few considerations that have kept developers from moving on the property, Swavely said, though he’s confident the project would become more attractive.

Wastewater infrastructure is one hurdle, he said.

The Sigua Highlands Property has water, power, and telecommunications, but the hilly area needs sewer infrastructure, and will require a pump station, which would need an upfront investment of between $500,000 and $1 million, Swavely said.

“There will be players who can do it when it’s the best option on the market. Right now, it’s not,” he said, noting there is still plenty of flat land, especially up north, for developers to build on.

“There will come a time when we will be fully saturated in the north,” Swavely said, and moving inland, to Sigua Highlands, will be more viable.

Having Leo Palace next door is a plus, as it increases the visibility of the project site, he noted.

Changing hands

Tebo is the latest owner of the Sigua Highlands property, and acquired it from the previous owner, Texas A&M Foundation, Swavely said.

In 1992, the late Guam businessman Harold Dwight Look, a graduate of the Texas A&M University, gave the land to the Texas A&M Foundation. In exchange for the property, the university named an engineering building after Look, PDN files show.

Back in 1992, the Texas A&M Foundation estimated the value of the property at $52 million.

Swavely, who got involved as a consultant on the project back when the foundation still owned the land through a development company, said it was at one point listed for sale at about $27 million, though there were no takers for the property at that price.

Tebo acquired the property for about $6 million, according to GLUC records.

Hikers, off-roaders, and bikers are known to frequent the undeveloped property, which boasts a trailhead to two waterfalls along the Sigua River. The Lonfit River also runs through the property.

Swavely said they’re technically trespassing, though Tebo has not given permission to take legal action against any person on the property.

They are willing to work with people who want access to the property, but, “I don’t see it reciprocated yet.”

Off-roading in particular is a concern, because of the amount of soil erosion that the vehicles cause, and potential liability for the property owner if someone is hurt, he said.