Ayala Land launches mixed-use property devt in UP

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. on Friday launched a large-scale mixed-use technology, commercial, and academic center in Quezon City in partnership with the University of the Philippines. The 38-hectare project aims to raise the level of IT and IT-Enabled Services provided by the Philippines to the developed economies. The UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub is a low-rise campus development located along Commonwealth Ave., within the UP Diliman Campus. To be completed this year, the six buildings offer a gross leasable area of almost 70,000 square meters, primarily for companies engaged in IT and IT-Enabled Services, as well as in science and technology, Ayala Land Businessscapes, the company’s office development arm, said. Four other buildings are expected to be completed by late next year, Marivic Anonuevo, group head of Ayala Land Businessscapes, added. Approximately P6 billion has been allotted for the buildings’ construction. “We hope to attract companies that can benefit from the knowledge and manpower within UP. We seek to attract firms providing backroom operations to the West as well as science and technology businesses with global potential through promising SMEs doing techie work," Anonuevo said. The Diliman facility has already attracted tech-oriented firms like IBM Business Solutions, Pointwest Technologies, SeaChange which engage in software development, maintenance and quality assurance as well as the BPO facilities of Manulife and HSBC. Also located at the TechnoHub's Tech Portal are incubatees consisting of five to 10-man enterprises. These include the developers of an underwater robot that can be remotely controlled and a group developing an SMS payment gateway to serve the healthcare needs of OFWs and their dependent in the Philippines. Among these locators are SPT BPO, Abby Consulting, RF Windows Asia, TradeChannel Philippines Inc., Iconnection, Tech Factors Inc., Pobletech, JBSI, Haystack, Lotus Edge, Webcast Technologies, and Actius. “Incubatees" were given lower lease rates to support their operations, through an arrangement undertaken with the Ayala Foundation, Jaime Ayala, Ayala Land President. He added that the project was patterned after campus-type developments such as the Silicon Valley near Stanford University, noting that the tie-up with UP will enable locators to tap the state university’s talent pool. Anonuevo said, however, that in three years these incubatees should be able to move up or move out of the facility. She added that its Katipunan technofacility, a project being managed by Ayala Foundation, will still continue its operations. The Katipunan project has two buildings occupying a three-hectare lot. “Although Ayala Foundation’s satellite office will maintain the Katipunan project, Ayala Foundation also has office here in the UP-AyalaLand Technohub," she said. - GMANews.TV