BGC's prime office spaces benefit from downturn

MANILA, Philippines - As most companies seek to weather the current economic crisis by reducing expenses on a number of fronts including rentals, top-end office buildings in Bonifacio Global City are finding themselves the beneficiaries of these corporate consolidations.

Lindsay Orr, chief operating officer of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu (JLLL), a global services firm operating in 60 countries and specializing in real estate, relates that an oversupply of office space is expected to last up to mid-2010. JLLL studies indicate that a total of 575,446 sqm. is expected to come onstream in 2009. From January to June 2010, an additional 315,221 sqm. is further expected to become available but little else follows afterwards.

He reports that corporate clients are making the most of the oversupply situation by seeking more flexible rental terms as well as relocating to newer and more efficient buildings in well-planned locations like Bonifacio Global City. Prime office developments like Fort Legend Towers, which is strategically located near St. Luke’s Medical Center, the proposed Shangri-la hotel property and other landmarks of the emerging district, are particularly enjoying strong demand.

Sheila Lobien, JLLL associate director, discloses that the recently completed Fort Legend Towers is already over 40 percent committed to a number of multinationals, foreign firms doing business in the Philippines, and BPOs. More transactions are in the pipeline.