Interview by Justin Ng
Photography by Kim Mun, Hopscotch Photography
Styling by Ibnu Aswan
Hair and makeup by Joey Yap and Derren Fong
For the full story, pick up a copy of Prestige Malaysia October 2018 issue.
The youngest person to join the Forbes’ 50 Richest in the Philippines list, Robbie Antonio is a dark knight riding a unicorn on a crusade to revolutionise real estate. His equine is Revolution Precrafted, a unicorn purveying limited-edition prefabricated properties by preeminent architects, artists, and designers.
Robbie cut his teeth in the US. Upon graduating from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, he founded Antonio Development. The New York-based development company is responsible for Centurion – the first residential building in the Big Apple designed by Pritzker Prize winner Pei Partnerships Architects. He also has an MBA from Stanford University. “I consider myself to be a very independent person and I also enjoy taking on challenges,” the 41-year-old enthuses. “Building something from scratch on your own and continuing to start new venture is particularly exciting and I am just glad that I was able to do it.”
Launched in December 2015, Revolution Precrafted has been on a meteoric rise. “To date, we are present and have projects in 25 countries with total consolidated project revenues of US$8.5 billion with our partners in the next three to four years,” Robbie stresses. “We are expected to deliver 35,000 units from our projects. This is no small feat, especially for a company that is less than three years old.”
He hints that Revolution Precrafted won’t stagnate in its present capacity, so even an eventual US$10 billion valuation is not out of the question. Growth excites him, be it winning new contracts, entering new markets or building new factories. “People say be patient, I am the exact opposite. I want everything now. It is a sprint, not just a marathon. People say it is a long-term thing. Yes, it is a marathon but to me it is always a sprint,” he says.
Revolution Precrafted recently sealed a US$210 million deal to build 60 luxury villas in San Gabriel Mountains, San Bernardino County in California. Each unit boasts five to six bedrooms, costing US$3.5 million. Further down the shores in Rio de Janeiro, it bagged a US$460 million contract to supply residential and hotel villas and other resort facilities in an eco-resort development.
“There is also substantial interest in our mid-entry homes because they have more accessible price points. In terms of geographical reach, we now have significant presence in Asia, South America, Central America, Europe, North America and Africa,” he adds. “We want to be prevalent and ubiquitous, in six continents, which we already are.”
With the drive he possesses, it is no surprise that he was named one of the 50 Asians Who Are Changing the Way We Live by Singapore’s Straits Times, as well as recognised by BuiltWorld’s as one of the 25 Pioneers Who Are Transforming the Built Industry along with Elon Musk of Tesla and Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork.The post Cover Story: Robbie Antonio Shows Why a Winning Personality Is The Recipe For Success appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.