HSBC Centre rises

Leading global bank The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) will be one of the major locators of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. With nine floors or over 12,000 sqm. of office space on a prime 3,300 sq.m. lot, the HSBC Centre will answer the increasing demand for office space in the emerging business district.

The Center, an office building project owned by Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. (FBDC), will house and consolidate the backroom operations of HSBC’s branches in the Philippines into one location. It will be accessible along the major thoroughfare coming from the Kalayaan EDSA/C5 flyover, a major thoroughfare that connects the Makati Central Business District and Bonifacio Global City. It will also be across the soon-to-be built St. Luke’s Medical Center. Ayala Land is the developer and marketing, property, and lease manager of the landmark HSBC building.

HSBC officials and representatives from FBDC and its partners namely, Ayala Land Inc., the Campos Group and the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), recently broke ground at the site of the future development in simple rites.

The positive message of the global bank’s decision to invest in Bonifacio Global City was acknowledged by Fernando Zobel de Ayala, vice chairman of FBDC and chairman of Ayala Land, during the simple groundbreaking ceremonies. According to Zobel, the HSBC building will be a welcome addition to the limited office space supply of Bonifacio Global City. The two existing office buildings in the area are already experiencing high demand as more companies recognize the superior location of the area and its value as a self-contained district.

Zobel added that the building will play a key role in reinforcing the vision of Bonifacio Global City as a holistic metropolitan development that will allow its residents to achieve a balanced lifestyle. It is envisioned as a city that will provide areas for office, commercial, recreational and other uses, creating an environment for its inhabitants to achieve a balanced lifestyle. He added that more large financial institutions are expected to follow HSBC’s lead.

Warner Manning, president and chief executive officer of HSBC, affirmed both the bank’s commitment to strengthening its local operations and his personal commitment to focus on the project until its target completion and opening early next year. He noted: "Our operations team in the Philippines is a center of excellence and to remain so would require us to consolidate our staff and functions from various locations into one center. Bonifacio Global City, where we currently have an HSBC Savings Bank branch, is an excellent site and we are confident working with our partners to see this completed by early 2007." Over 1,000 employees of HSBC are expected to be housed in the Centre.

Apart from Zobel and Manning, other key personalities at the rites who expressed their support for the project were Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga, HSBC chief operating officer Elaine Dichupa, FBDC director and Ayala Land president Jaime I. Ayala, FBDC director and Greenfield Development Corp. president Jeffrey Campos and FBDC vice chairman and BCDA chairman Filadelfo Rojas Jr.