Office building development in the Philippines has been very aggressive in the past 20 years. If you take a drive around the metro, you will see buildings being built not just one by one, not by twos, but townships with 10-20 towers all being assembled at the same time. This reflects not just a striving economy but a bullish one.
A Young Skyline
The district of Bonifacio Global City, a former military base, is only a little over 20 years young while the Bay Area did not see its first development until the latter part of 2000's. McKinley Hill and McKinley West was nothing but more of a military housing area but now is home to the top shared services in the country. Makati has seen its subdistricts grow as well, Rockwell and Circuit City to name a few may have little to zero office vacancy at the moment. Alabang steadily grew as well with BPOs filling up the buildings in the Filinvest North Cybergate zone. In Quezon City, there are also new developments such as Vertis North and the expansion of the office towers within SM North. There is also the UP Technohub, Eastwood, and C5 Corridor--all in Quezon City and are all home to prominent locators.
Aside from Metro Manila, the demand reaches out to key provincial cities such as Laguna, Batangas, Clark, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and even Bacolod. Most of the locators are also the ones in Metro Manila who wish to explore more labor pool and to also have a back up center or business continuity.
The Main Take-Up Driver
Obviously, the continuous construction of office buildings is being driven by a huge demand for office space. For the past two decades, ever since the founding of the BPO industry, this demand is rising year on year. The Philippines economy performed very well thanks to our highly educated talent pool that is globally known and preferred by outsourcing companies across the globe. With the BPO uplifting the country's economy, it multiplied to other industries-- all the more driving office space demand to go higher.
Top Office Developers
When it comes to office development, we at Office Pro Philippines highly recommend being with the major developers as not simply because they offer a wide range of buildings across the country but as well as for the most important reason that is proven track record. To add, tying up with a big developer gives your company more flexibility when it comes to sizing up or even sizing down. You can also easily expand or relocate your operations once you have established a good tenant-landlord relationship with them.
1. Ayala Land, Inc.
Well, no surprise here. The oldest conglomerate and one of the reputable developers in the country, AyalaLand has an estimated 750,000 square meters of office space nationwide and growing. Its known to be the king developer among others as it holds the title to most prime locations for development--Makati and Bonifacio Global City for starters.
AyalaLand's development is to create a healthy mix of retail, residential, hotel, and office in one estate. What makes AyalaLand stand among its competitors is the design and the greenery it puts into its development. To be located in any of their developments gives a sense of pride to their occupiers and this is why their investors are always happy with the appreciation of their property values.
One of AyalaLand's flagship projects -- Ayala Triangle where Ayala Triangle Tower One and Two are located -- both are few of the premium offices in Makati's Central Business District
When it comes to office development to be specific, AyalaLand has two types--Corporate Headquarters and BPO. They create buildings that will house specific tenants to make sure that the population mix within a building will be harmonious.
Currently, AyalaLand has office buildings located in Makati CBD-- which are mostly the corporate headquarter types. The ones found in Circuit City, BGC, Arca South, Bay Area, Alabang, Vertis North, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod, Laguna and Cavite are mostly the ones for BPOs.
2. Megaworld Corporation
Incorporated in 1989 and made known by its townships, Megaworld Corporation built its reputation as a developer that creates and sustains its own demand. Heavily centered on their 'live-work-play-learn' tagline, Megaworld combines the necessary makings of a small city within its own walls by making residential, office, and retail establishments all available in one area; hence the township label.
In the relatively early stages of the BPO Boom in the country, Megaworld was one of the few companies that could handle the huge requirement of leasable spaces in its Eastwood township. They were the first developer to house a township of BPOs in the late 1990s and were the first developer to be accredited by PEZA--an institution that gives tax incentives to BPO locators. Recently, the developer has fully leased out all its buildings in BGC's Uptown area. Namely, Uptown Place Towers 1-3, and World Commerce Place.
To date, Megaworld is the biggest office developer in terms of Gross Leasable Area (GLA). The company has 54 office towers across the country and has amassed more than 1.2 million square meters of leasable office space. The company plans to hold its position with no signs of slowing down, with the addition of their upcoming buildings, International Finance Center (70,000sqm), and Enterprise Towers One and Two (78,000sqm).
One of Megaworld's townships -- McKinley Hill -- home to shared offices of global companies such as Factset, Abbott, Wells Fargo, and Thomson Reuters.
3. SM Prime Holdings
SM holds the population's top-of-mind recall when it comes to malls and retail, with its 74 Malls housing a whopping total of 8.5 million square meters. It established its own independent real estate arm in 1994, named SM Prime Holdings, Inc., to develop, conduct, operate, and maintain all its businesses related thereto, including its Office component. It works hand in hand with its retail counterpart SM Supermalls, who handles office leases within its malls.
Within its stronghold at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, it operates all five E-com Centers - a series of modern and iconic office buildings mostly targeting technology-based industries and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies. Similarly, but outside its MOA Complex, the company has its 'Cyber Offices', namely Cyber West, Cyber Makati One and Two. All of which have PEZA Accreditation. Aside from these locations, they are also currently building their office portfolio in SM North and SM Fairview. Other key provinces where SM offices are located are Iloilo, General Santos, and of course Cebu.
SM's biggest estate--Mall of Asia Complex-- home to the E-Com office buildings. Top locators are Amazon, Telstra, and Alorica.
The advantage of course of being with SM Prime Holdings is the convenience of being near their SM malls which offers hundreds and even thousand of support services which can range from food, specialty stores, and even transportation hubs. On top of that, SM gives flexibility to house any company's growth as long as you stay within their portfolio.
4. Robinsons Land Corporation
Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), the real estate arm of JG Summit Holdings, Inc., was established in 1980. With over 40 years in the industry, RLC also has built a diversified portfolio with core businesses in shopping malls, office buildings, hotels, and residential developments.
RLC hosts its buildings in a healthy spread across the country including key provinces of Bicol, Ilocos, Cebu, and Davao. The developer's portfolio though has most visibility in the Pasig and Mandaluyong Central Business Districts. Their newest buildings, Exxa Tower, Zeta Tower and Giga Tower already have little to no availability. This comes as no surprise since the demand for office space that Ortigas Center could not accommodate in the most recent years has found its home in RLC's Bridgetown Township, strategically located in Ortigas' proximity.
RLC's corporate headquarters ---Robinsons Equitable Tower-- strategically located in Ortigas Center.
With 13 office buildings spread across the country, the company has amassed 593,000 square meters of leasable office space in total. 180,000 square meters of which come from their newer buildings. RLC will be adding another building to its Bridgetown Township, GBF Center 1, adding another 51.450sqm to its portfolio.
5. Filinvest Land, Inc.
Filinvest Land, Inc. has been in the Real Estate game since 1989 but its parent company, Filinvest Development Corporation, has been around since 1955 so it comes to no surprise that it belongs as one of the key players in the real estate industry.
With the way things are spiraling with congestion and traffic in Metro Manila, multiple developers are starting to use their vast resources, knowledge, and expertise to off-load some of the congestion to locations relatively close but outside the metro. Filinvest is one of those pioneers and is leading the way by investing on its township in Metro Clark, Filinvest Mimosa. Targeted to be finished by 2022, the development will have roughly 126,000 square meters of office space. Clark has been seen as a high potential alternative to Metro Manila as there's a huge labor pool and the government is also very supportive of its infrastructure development.
Currently, FLI has a hold of 712,000sqm of leasable space. It plans to further expand its office portfolio with its Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang (118,000sqm), and individual developments spread across cities in the metro such as One Filinvest (39,700sqm), Activa, and Studio 7 (95,800sqm).
Filinvest Land's definitely the queen of the south with its priceless gem--Northgate Cyberzone. Home to big shared services such as Genpact and WNS.
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We are the only OFFICE SPACE-FOCUSED real estate in the Philippines with more than 10 years of practice from our consultants.
Our core services include office consultancy, office lease acquisition, office construction management, and office facilities management.
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