Megaworld to provide one-fourth of BPOs' office space needs

MANILA, Philippines - Megaworld Corp. has promised to provide one-fourth of the office space needs of the Philippines’ business process outsourcing industry by 2010. The listed company—controlled by Andrew Tan, the fourth-richest Filipino—has committed to build half a million square meters for an industry that expects to earn $13 billion in 2010. Megaworld First Vice-President Jericho P. Go told reporters on Friday that the company intends to assist the BPO industry in reaching its goals as indicated in its Roadmap 2010. Drafted by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), the Offshoring & Outsourcing Roadmap 2010 has projected that the industry will need two million square meters of office space in two years. Oscar Sañez, chief executive officer of BPA/P, said the industry group is working with real estate developers to fulfill the sector’s infrastructure requirements. Some 1.2 million square meters of office space are expected to be available to BPOs by 2010. Megaworld is a pioneer in developing community townships focusing on the information technology (IT) industry. In 1999, its Eastwood City Cyberpark in Quezon City was the first proclaimed IT economic zone by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA). It is now home to more than 60 IT companies, most of them engaged in BPO. The IT zone also has residential and retail components to complete the township community model. In Eastwood City, aside from the IBM and Citibank buildings that are already housing BPOs, Megaworld has just completed the E-commerce Plaza with a leasable area of 21,500 square meters. It is now ready for turnover and a BPO is one of its first occupants. Under development is 1880 Eastwood Avenue building that will be ready for occupancy by the first quarter next year, said Go. One of its occupants would be Dell since it already has its corporate logo visible on the façade. Global One Center, with an area of 31,700 square meters available for lease, should be ready for occupancy by the first semester of 2009. Go said that aside from Eastwood City, Megaworld is also developing other township projects in Metro Manila to meet demand. These projects are the McKinley Hill Cyberpark in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, and Newport City Cybertourism Zone in the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City. In McKinley Hill, Megaworld is offering up to 240,932 square meters of area for leasing by BPOs and with the same perks available to locators as the area has also been declared an IT zone. Aside from high-rise buildings, McKinley Hill will also offer campus-type buildings of up to 6 storeys only and mid-rise buildings of up to 10 to 15 storeys. There will also be customized towers for BPO requirements. He said some 70-70% of the buildings in McKinley Hill have already been leased out. Similar to Eastwood City, McKinley Hill will have spaces for residential and retail development. Newport City's appeal is that it is near the domestic and international airports. It has 450,000 square meters of office space with similar campus-type setting. Aside from these developments, which are ready for the 2010 deadline of the BPO industry, Megaworld is also developing Cityplace in Binondo, Manila. It also has available spaces for BPOs, but Megaworld did not indicate the amount of available space for lease. Megaworld is also venturing in cities outside Metro Manila, particularly in cities earlier identified by the BPA/P and the government as the "next wave cities" marked for BPO expansion. Megaworld is developing BPO Triangles in Iloilo City and Cebu City. - Veronica C. Silva, GMANews.TV