SM Land allots P4.25 billion for office development

MANILA, Philippines - SM Land under its commercial properties group has earmarked P4.25 billion for two major office building developments in 2012 – ThreeE-comCenter, the third installment of a four-structure premier business hub in Mall of Asia Complex (MOAC) in Pasay City; and SM Cyber West Ave., a standalone office building at prime location across SM North EDSA Mall in Quezon City.

With the size and design of these office buildings – featuring large floor plates, areas for retail and commercial tenants, and high-technology utilities and features – the former is estimated to cost P3.2 billion and the latter P1.05 billion.

“We remain confident in the continued growth of the business process outsourcing industry in the Philippines,” states David Rafael, SM Land senior vice president and head of the Commercial Properties Group. “We have designed and developed our office buildings with a continuing sensitivity and genuine understanding of this target market.”

SM Land has successfully captured a substantial share of BPO businesses with its OneE-comCenter and TwoE-comCenter developments in MOAC. SM Land has also developed build-to-suit BPO offices such as the two SM Cyber Makati buildings along Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., and the SM Cyber Baguio.

“Our value proposition strongly remains to be value-for-money office solutions – the functionality and prestige of a central business district address, at costs not usually associated with such,” says Rafael.

SM Land has developed a niche in the local office leasing market by offering expansive buildings in select, prime locations that usually synergize with existing SM developments.

Large, column-less floor plates or “megafloors” are vital to BPOs and call center operations, to maximize space and accommodate flexible workstation permutations, explains Rafael. “This also increases efficiency, minimizing the use of elevators,” he adds. In tradition office buildings, BPO tenants would usually occupy multiple regular-sized floors.

Pioneering OneE-com has typical floor plates as large as 8,500 sqm, while the recently opened TwoE-com offers a range of floor plates with the largest at 6,000 sqm. OneE-com is fully occupied, while TwoE-com is almost fully leased out.

ThreeE-comCenter will feature iconic architecture designed by Miami-based firm Arquitectonica, with FS Lim & Associates as the local architect of record. The 15-level office building will cover a gross floor area (GFA) of over 125,000 sqm and an estimated gross leasable area (GLA) of 79,000 sqm. Typical floor plates are at 6,800 sqm – still one of the most expansive in the local office leasing market. ThreeE-com will also feature a mixed-use component on its fourth level podium.

ThreeE-com is scheduled to break ground in April 2012, and is targeted for completion by 4th quarter of 2014.

The SM Cyber West project is a 15-level office building development that will cover more than 42,000 sqm of GFM, and around 22,700 sqm of GLA for office space. It is ideal for a single major BPO locator. It will rise on a highly visible and prime 2,910 sqm property at the corner of EDSA and West Avenue. The remaining leasable area mostly found in the ground and second levels will feature a Save More supermarket and other support retail and commercial establishments. Additionally, the building will be linked via bridgeways to the SM North EDSA Mall as well as nearby MRT stations.

The project is targeted for completion by the 4th quarter of 2013.

In 2011, the Commercial Properties Group of SM Land grew revenues by 14 percent to P2.32 billion from P2.025 billion in 2010. Office leasing contributed 37 percent of revenues and comprised more than half (56 percent) of its P858-million net income. The group also owns and manages the MOAC estate, as well as selected buildings and properties housing SM department stores, supermarkets and retail warehouses – for a total of slightly more than one million square meters of leasable area.