Ongpin’s Alphaland ventures into premium office segment

MANILA, Philippines - Ongpin-led property developer Alphaland Corp. is venturing into the premium office segment with the opening of its 34-story Alphaland Tower along Ayala Ave, estimated to generate sales proceeds worth P8 billion, a top company official said.

“The newest premium grade office building in the Makati central business district is also the only pre-certified Grade-A tower of its kind, it’s either for sale or lease. At the minimum, we’re selling or leasing one floor at a time,” said Alphaland president Mario Oreta.

He said ideal tenants for the premium office space are multinational and law firms as business process outsourcing  (BPO) firms are more price-sensitive.

Alphaland Tower, which has a gross floor area of 48,000 square meters, is divided into three zones: the 14-story low zone, the 13-storey high zone and the three-story penthouse. It also has a five-level basement parking.

Alphaland is already in talks with several firms, some of which are looking to buy five floors at P200,000 to P250,000 per square meter, Oreta said.

Designed by Hong Kong-based architects Wong & Ouyang, the Alphaland Tower has earned a pre-certified gold rating from the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

“Its environmentally-friendly solutions aim to cut down on utility costs while increasing employee productivity,” Alphaland said.

Alphaland is a joint venture between London-based private equity fund Ashmore Group and RVO Capital Ventures of former Trade Minister Roberto V. Ongpin.

The company was incorporated in May 2007, with the Alphaland Southgate Tower and Mall at the corner of EDSA and Chino Roces Ave. in Makati City as its first completed project.

The lifestyle developer will jack up its capital spending this year to roughly P5 billion from P4.4 billion a year ago as it completes its existing projects.

Alphaland is completing the three-tower, P9-billion Alphaland Makati Place this year. The upscale property developer is also completing and expanding this year its Balesin Island Club in Quezon province.

In February, the Philippine Stock Exchange lifted the trading suspension for the shares of Alphaland, which finalized several transactions increasing its public float to 10.53 percent from 8.03 percent.

Alphaland is also building the Alphaland Marina Club, which forms part of the 32-hectare Bay City development that will be a mixed-use community.