Wednesday, November 25, 2009 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
AFTER available spaces of the eBloc Tower were fully-leased out to “premium” locators four months after the building was completed, its managing company is now planning to construct a second building that will address need for office spaces for the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
The Asian i-Office Properties Inc. (AIO), in a press conference yesterday, said the BPO industry still foresees a 25-percent industry growth in 2010. With the forecast, inquiries from BPO companies for leasable spaces still continue to come in.
Similar concept
AIO president and chairman of the board Francis Monera refused to disclose more details on AIO’s second project but he said the building will have a similar concept as that of the 12-story eBloc Tower.
This move, Monera said, is aligned with the company’s aim of strengthening its recurring income sources after the company shifted from selling lots to constructing buildings to lease out the spaces for office and retail.
The still-to-be-named project is expected to start construction in the second half of 2010, following the launch of Asiatown IT Park’s (AITP) second phase next year.
At present, initial land development of the five-hectare AITP phase two is already underway. An estimated P200 million has been allocated for the expansion, Monera said.
Yesterday, AIO conducted a media tour of the eBloc Tower, which featured environment-friendly facilities as part of the Energy Management Program undertaken by wholly-owned and managed properties of Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI).
Energy consumption
This program, according to a statement by the company, aims to reduce the building’s energy consumption and reduce operating costs.
Among these features are the water-saving dual piping system and rainwater collection tank to save on water consumption, a segregated garbage collection area and waterless urinals and other water-saving toilet fixtures.
NCR Cebu Development Center Inc. (NCR) engineering manager Victor Silvestre said that after scouring the city for possible locations to house the company’s expansion, NCR chose to locate at the eBloc Tower because of its efficient utilities and the building design, which maximizes usage of the floor area.
NCR, which transferred to the eBloc Tower last September, is occupying 6,974-square meter office space at the eBloc Tower.
Another BPO player, JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPMC), also recently signed a five-year lease contract to occupy four-and-a-half floors, or 12,404 square meters of office space from the 21,000 square meters total leasable space of the eBloc Tower.
JPMC is expected to start its operations in March 2010.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 26, 2009.
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