Vol. XXII, No. 67 [ BusinessWorld Onine ]
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
BY MARITES V. ILANO, Visayas Bureau Chief
CEBU — Qimonda Holdings, Inc., a new company owned by a Cebu-based Filipino-Chinese family, is constructing a P500-million information technology (IT) building to meet the growing office space requirements of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies here.
If the take-up rate for the building’s total leasable space of 22,450 square meters is high, Qimonda will further develop its five-hectare property at the Cebu North Reclamation Area into an IT park.
Jonas L. Go of Qimonda Holdings said his family plans to put up more IT buildings as well as condominiums and a mixed-use facility that will lease out space to businesses that complement BPO operations.
The six-storey building that is being constructed so far occupies only half a hectare, he added.
The property, which is located in the Cebu port area, adjuncts to those that are being used as container van yards or shipping facilities.It is also near the city’s upscale area that sits the SM City Cebu mall and the Radisson Hotel as well as the planned Robinson’s mall.
"We want to change the people’s perception of that area. Right now, you see container yards there and port facilities. But SM is there and Robinson’s will soon build a mall," said Albert C. Go, a member of the family.
The six-storey building, called Qimonda IT Center, will be completed by December this year, Mr. Go said. It will have leasable spaces of 3,800 square meters per floor. The first floor will be devoted to food outlets, wellness centers and logistics offices while the rest will be for BPOs. Qimonda has contracted real estate management firm Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu to market and manage the building.
"There are quite a number of BPOs that have expressed interest and approached us through Jones Lang," he said, but declined to name the prospective locators.
The building has been registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) and is awaiting declaration as an IT building. If plans to further develop the entire property proceeded well, Mr. Go said the property could be declared as an IT park upon approval by PEZA.
The property has been with the Go family for over a decade but has remained idle until now.
Mr. Go was optimistic that the company will be fully leased upon its completion because Cebu was recently named by investment advisory firm Tholons as the top emerging global outsourcing destination. Cebu currently has only one IT park and around 20 IT buildings.
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