Friday, June 4, 2010 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
By Katlene O. Cacho
THE Asian i-Office Properties, Inc. (AIO) has unveiled another project at the Asiatown IT Park to provide more space for the growing business process outsourcing (BPO), IT and IT-enabled companies.
AIO launched yesterday eBloc 2 Tower, a 16-level office building located in the Phase 2 of IT Park. It sits on a 4,383-square meter lot with a gross floor area of 34,762 square meters.
AIO is a partnership between the Cebu Property Ventures Development Corp. (CPVDC) and Ayala Land Inc.’s (ALI) Corporate Business Group to address the continuing demand for office spaces.
The eBloc 2 Tower is a sequel to the eBloc Tower, which was completed last year.
CPVDC president Francis Monera said the construction of the eBloc 2 Tower is another move of the company to address the demand of the growing BPO and IT industries.
“This will further make Cebu a prime investment destination,” Monera said during the launching yesterday. CPVDC is the developer of Asiatown IT Park and is a subsidiary of Cebu Holding’s Inc., an Ayala-led company.
ALI president and chief executive Antonino Aquino said the company invested P1.4 billion for the project, which is set to be completed next year.
He added this is part of the P2 billion earmarked for Cebu to fund major developments of the company in its residential, office and retail businesses starting this year.
“We will make sure that best practices will also be implemented here in Cebu,” Aquino said as he noted ALI’s developments in Makati City and Bonifacio Global City in Luzon.
He said the 7.3 percent economic growth in the first quarter encouraged the firm.
“Of course we will take advantage of the momentum and take full advantage of the growing BPO industry as it is one of the major growth drivers of the country’s gross domestic product,” Aquino told reporters.
The eBloc 2 Tower, which is envisioned to become a premier location for BPO, IT and ITES business locators, has a gross leasable area of 26,543 square meters. It also has retail spaces and an open air podium that can accommodate parking slots for both retail and office needs.
Monera also said the firm is in discussion with a big multinational company that already expressed interest in locating at eBloc 2. He, however, declined to identify the company.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on June 5, 2010.
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