Vol. XXI, No. 227 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
Thursday, June 19, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
CEBU CITY — The Asiatown IT Park will lease out more space to business process outsourcing (BPO) and retail companies, with more workers to be hired in the process.
A new 12-story office building will be completed as scheduled by the third quarter and will provide 21,000 square meters of additional leasable space for information technology firms, as well as 1,700 square meters of leasable space for retail outlets.
Francis O. Monera, president of Asiatown developer Cebu Property Ventures and Development Corp., noted that once completed, the entry of these locators would generate more jobs. As of last year, locators at the park created 11,637 jobs.
The building, called the eBloc, is a project of Asian I-Office Properties, Inc., a special purpose vehicle created by Cebu Property Ventures and the Ayala Land, Inc. corporate business group.
"We will be putting out even more products and concepts into the global information and communications technology market that are proudly produced through Filipino ingenuity," Mr. Monera said at the recent topping-off ceremony for the building.
He said they were talking with a number of prospective locators, but declined to identify them.
He said more than half of the leasable space within the building would be occupied by the end of the year.
Cebu Property Ventures recently held a soft opening for The Walk, a 2,500-square meter retail strip that hosts shops, bars, restaurants and other retail outlets that cater to the 24/7 lifestyle at Asiatown.
Four out of 18 outlets, namely Pier 1, La Marea, Figaro and Shakey’s, have started operations. — Marites S. Villamor
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