Ortigas eyes 4 IT buildings
Jenniffer B. Austria
Manila Standard
The Ortigas group plans to develop four information technology buildings across the Tiendesitas complex in Pasig City that will cater to business process outsourcing companies.
Ortigas & Co. Limited Partnerships chief finance officer Rex Drilon said the project, still in the early planning stage, would cost around P2 billion. It will make available some 50,000 square meters of office space that can accommodate 10,000 call center seats.
Drilon said the company was in talks with potential locators for the IT buildings. He said the group also aimed to attract companies engaged in animation, software development, medical transcription and other high-end BPO operations.
Drilon said the Ortigas group had taken interest in developing BPO buildings because of industry forecasts that demand would reach one million seats by 2010 to 2011.
Industry estimates show that only 480,000 call center seats will come on stream over the next three years. Among these are the projects of Megaworld Corp. in Libis and Fort Bonifacio, Ayala Land in Quezon City and Makati, Robinsons Land in Mandaluyong and Filinvest Land in Alabang. This leaves a gap of more than half a million seats.
Drilon said the location of the group’s proposed BPO campus was ideal because of its proximity to a commercial area as well as to Makati and Quezon City.
The Ortigas group currently leases two floors of its building in Ortigas to BPO companies. It has also constructed a BPO building near Fun Ranch, also in Tiendesitas. The five-story office building has 5,000 sq. m. of floor area available for lease.
The IT project is part of the company’s development plan for Frontera Verde, an interim 8.5-hectare development at the corner of Ortigas Avenue and E. Rodriguez in Pasig City.
The property has already attracted several locators, including SM Hypermarket, a wellness center and Tiendesitas, a 30,000-sq. m. shopping area that showcases the best of Philippine architecture, cuisine, crafts, plants and other locally made products.
Ortigas & Co. is also investing P12 billion to develop a 12-hectare property in Bagumbayan, Quezon City into a residential community.
The 75-year old company was responsible of transforming the grasslands of Ortigas into thriving urban complexes.
The firm’s general partners who hold 250 partnership shares are Rafael Ortigas Jr., Francisco Ortigas III, Ignacio Ortigas, Fernando Ortigas, Mark Watkinson and Martin Cook of HSBC.
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