Posted on June 30, 2014 09:35:23 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
MEGAWORLD Corp., the flagship unit of
property developer Andrew L. Tan’s Alliance Global Group, Inc., is fast-tracking
the completion of its business process outsourcing (BPO) towers in Iloilo City,
citing strong demand from companies that prefer the provinces for being
cost-efficient.
“Being cost-efficient means going
outside Metro Manila and exploring provincial locations with lower rental rates
and lower manpower cost,” Megaworld Senior Vice-President Jericho P. Go said
yesterday in a phone interview.
Its three towers in Iloilo Business
Park -- One Global Center, Two Global Center and Richmonde Tower -- are set to
be completed this year. They have a total of 25,000 square meters (sq.m.) of
leasable space and will be able to accommodate around 10,000 full-time
employees (FTEs) for the BPO companies.
Mr. Go said One Global was originally
due to be completed by December, and Two Global, three months after that.
By August, Megaworld will start
constructing two more office towers -- One Techno Place and Two Techno Place.
“The construction should start
mid-2015, but because of demand, we started construction this year and will try
to complete it early 2016. It should have been up and running by late 2016, but
now, early 2016 na, possibly by 2015 pa nga,” Mr. Go said.
The Techno towers have a total of
19,000 sq.m. of leasable spaces and will accommodate an additional 8,000 FTEs
in the township.
StarTek, Inc., a US-based BPO company,
started operations in the Richmonde Tower in June and is poised to launch its
stand-alone BPO office building at Two Global Center by the fourth quarter.
Megaworld has also started constructing
the Megaworld Central Mall and Festive Walk, a 1.1-kilometer commercial and
retail strip parallel to Iloilo’s Diversion Road. The mall and the first phase
of Festive Walk are expected to be completed by second half next year.
Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, a 151-room
business hotel, will also open early next year, in time for the city’s hosting
of some events of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
Another hotel, Courtyard by Marriott,
has begun construction and is expected to be completed by end-2015.
Construction of the Iloilo Convention
Center, which has a 3,700 seating capacity, has also begun and is expected to
the biggest and most modern convention facility in Region 6.
Other Megaworld projects outside Metro
Manila are the 11-hectare Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City, and the
28.8-hectare The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
Over the past 24 years, Megaworld has
completed more than 320 residential and office buildings with a total area of
around 5.6 million sq.m.
About 185 residential, office and
hotel buildings with a total area of around 5.4 million sq.m. are currently
under development.
Megaworld grew its first-quarter net
income by 49% year on year to P2.69 billion.
Total revenue of the company and its
subsidiaries Empire East Land Holdings and Suntrust Properties surged 22% in
the first three months, hitting P9.94 billion.
Megaworld shares on Monday gained two
centavos or 0.45% to end at P4.50 apiece. -- Daphne J. Magturo
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