Journal Staff
Gone are the days when residential development stopped in the center of Yigo village.
Private properties and developments through the years have begun to fill the landscape up to Mount Santa Rosa and along Route 9, which passes the North Gate to Andersen Air Force Base.
Today the village has further housing development to look forward to.
While Yigo has several strip malls, it has relatively few larger commercial developments on Marine Corps Drive, also called Rte. 1, which runs through the village.
Ada’s Trust & Investment Inc., which specializes in commercial real estate development in Guam, has overseen the Yigo Town Center for decades, and now plans to develop land it owns in the village.
Peter P. “Sonny” Ada, president of Ada’s; said the property was developed in 1996. Tenants have changed through the years, although the Bank of Guam branch is still there.
“It’s exciting for us. We have about 16,000 square feet in total with now just three tenants — it’s full — so much so that I have plans.”
While Ada has various holdings that he’d like to develop, the cost of high construction and timing are important, he said. But he is looking to develop the adjacent property to the Town Center, a property of about two acres.
“We started with a rendering, so that I can go out and start marketing concepts. Because the property is almost one of the last pieces of Marine Drive road front it really suits a restaurant. That would be our first target market,” he said. “We’ll have a lot of parking and a lot of ingress and egress. I think the development’s going to be good for us.”
Planning has changed, Ada said.
“We’ll probably have the tenant already before we develop or at least have a letter of intent. It used to be you build and put up a For Rent sign. For us, those days are gone.”
The economic downturn is one factor, he said. Also, “The cost has gone up so much to develop the return is going to take much longer, and we’d probably have to subsidize it, because rents aren’t going up either.”
Yigo rents are lower than other villages such as Hagatna and Tamuning and Dededo, he said because there is a lot of residential property and not a lot of business activity.
“Yes, you have your places to eat; your places to shop, but there’s not office demand, there’s not attraction per se, nothing’s really drawing tourists up there.”
That is changing, Ada said. “Now there’s interest because of the military buildup. That’s going to bring an uptick in population.” From Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz he said of personnel, “When they come out to Marine Drive, they have the option of going South to eat or shop or they have the option to go North to eat or shop.” Andersen Air Force Base sits to the North of Yigo and will also see its own increase in population. “We’re building for that population pick up,” Ada said. “We’re not going to build during or after they’ve arrived. That’s why we’re in that development mode.”
Ada estimated that the building fronting the road will be about 4,000 square feet and possibly a building of 10,000 square feet behind that. He intends to build the front building first. “It could be that the remaining property turns out to be a mixed-use area,” with apartments. “It seems to work on a mixed-use development,” he said.
He plans to return to the architectural rendering when a tenant is in place. “That alone will probably take about three to six months. These guys are all busy too.” As to the permitting process, he said, “We know it’s slow, so we’re just planning ahead.”
On doing business in Yigo, Ada said, “It’s not the center of economic activity, but there are businesses there that serve the residents there.” What the village lacks is “service-type businesses and in particular medical,” he said. “I think a small clinic up North should do well.”
Yigo is well served with a variety of smaller restaurants, Ada said. “But there’s not a Shirley’s or a Kings up there. A Kings would be ideal for us because they appeal to both local and military very much.”
Ada’s has a reputation as a good landlord. “That’s what’s kept us occupied. We’re continually maintaining our buildings … it’s ongoing. And we work with our tenants,” he said.
Mynette G. Dizon, managing owner and administrator of World of Wonder Childcare and Learning Center; is a business owner whose services have developed to serve working parents in the village and a tenant at Yigo Town Center. Dizon, who earlier worked for Carrier in the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning or HVAC industry, manages the Triton Store at the University of Guam. She earned two associate degrees from Guam Community College in marketing and supervision in management and is also an alumna of UOG with a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in finance and economics, a master’s in business administration and a professional master’s of business administration.
Before she opened the business, her first child was in daycare in Yigo. When her second child came along seven and a half years later, Dizon began looking for daycare again. “I called 20 daycares and visited seven, and I found something wrong with each one,” she said. Either it didn’t look clean, or the kids didn’t look happy, or the parking was not great, or it didn’t feel secure. In my head, I decided I can do better.”
All Dizon’s facilities have a foyer, which can be locked.
The 21-month process to own a daycare and be its director required early childhood education.
“We opened our first day care on Oct. 8, 2018, the day after my daughter turned two,” she said. “It took 23 months from conception … to finding a location, renovating it, getting it inspected.” The initial investment in the first two units was about $270,000, she said. The two vacant units were not adjacent, Dizon said. “The landlord asked the realty company (Welcome Home Realty) to move, so I could have two units together. I wasn’t expecting that. Sonny paid for the renovation for their unit and just added it to my rent and that’s how we got two suites next to each other.”
World of Wonder had a waitlist, and that’s partly why the decision to open up additional daycare was easy, Dizon said.” The first day care took about six months for us to be full, and then COVID happened.” In 2022 she was licensed for the second day care business. “Day Care number three came in 2023 — the same time as our fifth anniversary,” she said.
When Welcome Home Realty moved, Dizon leased their unit also. In October Dizon took over a seventh unit which is undergoing construction for an indoor playground.
Dizon now has all of Building C. “And now I’m on a long-term lease of 15 years,” she said. Her suites have back up battery power, which she purchased with a federal grant. “It’s charged from the grid and can last for two days without charge.” Ada’s Trust is installing solar panels in the property.
The units vary slightly in size. “Square footage is everything, especially in daycare. Your capacity is dependent on how big the place is. For daycare its 35 square feet per child, so they’ll come and measure the room to see how many children. For outdoor play it’s 75 square feet per child. There’s also capacity for an indoor playground,” Dizon said.
World of Wonder is licensed from six weeks up to 15 years, so her son can be at the center legally. “We typically end at 13 years, because a block grant will only cover after-school care for up to 13 years,” Dizon said.
Her daughter at eight years of age is interested in a similar career and her son is more interested in the café and indoor playground. “I’m grooming them to take over,” Dizon said. “Me and my husband did not have generational wealth. I wanted to make something that they can take over.”
Dizon views the business as a partner with parents. “I think we’re the only daycare in Yigo that does afterschool pick up,” she said. “We actually pick up kids and bring them here. It all became a service because that’s what I needed for my child.” World of Wonder is open from 6.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., opening about 30 minutes earlier than most daycare centers. “We’re only closed nine days out of the year,” Dizon said. “I’m catering to the working parent.”
The facilities are inspected at least once a quarter. At present, World of Wonder is visited multiple times. “They’re training people so they’re coming more than usual.” Employees are required to undergo background checks before hiring.
“I’m very hands-off, Dizon said. World of Wonder has a director and assistant director among the eight managers, and 26 employees. Her husband Joseph also works in the business. “He’s my handyman and my delivery guy,” she says.
The only time World of Wonder suffered was during the pandemic. The business closed in March 2020 for five months. “I charged a holding fee to keep the child’s spot,” Dizon said.
Her rent was divided by the capacity of the number of children, and the holding fee was the equivalent of that and paid the rent. “What helped me was the [Paycheck Protection Program] and the SBA’s [Economic Injury Disaster Loan] and all of the grants from GEDA. We finally opened, but at half capacity.” Dizon then had the expenses of masks and cleaning supplies. Federal grants for opening daycares financed Daycares 2 and 3. “At that time there was only [about] 42 daycares on Guam, probably with an average capacity of 50.” The current number is about 60 on-island, Dizon said.
Previously people would get relatives to watch their children. “I have a lot of children that are first-time day-care attendees,” she said. Some parents have a sense of not being comfortable with daycare, and Dizon would address their uneasiness. “I have cameras; we’re heavy on sanitation and cleanliness. We are not just babysitters — we actually have a curriculum.” In addition, World of Wonder was an early user of the Bright Wheel app — rated the top Childcare Management Software app. “We update the parents with pictures of their child for the whole day — when they took a nap, when they woke up, when they ate. … Parents always want to see what their child is doing when they’re little,” she said.
World of Wonder is full, with currently about 60 children.
Yigo is where Dizon grew up and lived except for seven years in Tamuning but moved back to the village to be close to family. Both she and her husband attended Simon Sanchez High School, which her son currently attends at John F. Kennedy High School.
There are additions she’d like to see in Yigo. “Why don’t we have a police department? We’re the second largest village in size and population. Why not a mall? One of the reasons I’m opening a playground is there’s nothing like this up North.” The playground will be an asset for Yigo, she said. “There’s a lot of stay-at-home moms — especially in the military and they always look for places to bring their kids. They’re looking for things to do.” mbj