Leechiu leaps to new heights

MANILA, Philippines - At the second floor of the Makati Shangri-La Retail Arcade along Ayala Ave., the excitement in the air is almost tangible.

After all, it’s the new home of Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) and the new 600-square meter hip office space couldn’t have been launched at a better time as the property consultancy company is now on a crest, hitching a ride on the country’s continuously growing real estate market.

 Indeed, LPC chief executive officer David Leechiu said the company’s investment sales team is all set to transact P17.6 billion worth of deals in the next six to 12 months to add to its portfolio of properties sold mostly in the south of Manila: Makati, Alabang and Bonifacio Global City.

“Some of these deals are land, some are hotels and some are companies but mostly, these deals are commercial,” he said.

Within five months, LPC’s investment sales arm managed the acquisition and sale of properties worth P3.5 billion.

The firm has also transacted 81,000 sqm of office space in the same period.

At present, LPC is currently marketing 25 project buildings with a total space of 705,000 sqm.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished in our first five months. This only proves that LPC has one of the deepest benches of expertise and experience in the field of real estate,” Leechiu said.

Moving forward, Leechiu said the goal is to become the top real estate company in the Philippines as it brings superior value and profitable real estate assets to its partners and clients.

“We want to maintain our mark as a bold, pioneering, homegrown company with a team of seasoned and talented professionals who are eager to do more as we continue with more projects and transactions in the pipeline,” he said.

Such a goal isn’t farfetched with LPC’s talented team of experts and with the industry’s strong growth potential.

LPC has a six-member management team. They are: Fernando Camus, chairman, who has more than 30 years of experience in real estate; Leechiu himself, the founder of LPC; Henry Cabrera, head of investment sales; Angela Hollander-Padilla, who has been in the real estate business for 15 years; Philip Anonuevo, a veteran in tenant representation and Lylah Ledonio who specializes in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector.  

As for the industry, Leechiu said there’s no way to go but up.

Demand for office space in Metro Manila, Leechiu said, is expected to grow to 721,000 sqm by the end of the year or 25 percent more than last year’s take up of 577,000 sqm.

Data showed that demand for office space has already reached 600,000 square meters from January to October 2016.

“What demand has reached in a full year last 2015, we have attained in under nine months,” he said.

Bonifacio Global City in Taguig accounted for bulk of the office take up in the 10 months to October or 64 percent, followed by Quezon City with 17 percent, Alabang with eight percent and Ortigas and Makati, accounting for four percent each. The Bay area in Paranaque accounted for three percent of office space demand.

In 2015, BGC also accounted for the biggest chunk of the office space take up of 577,000 sqm, at 35 percent while Makati followed at 28 percent. Ortigas accounted for 18 percent while Quezon City office space had a twelve percent share. Alabang had a six percent share.

Bulk of the demand for office space comes from the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, Leechiu said.

And he forecasts steady growth from this industry especially from European companies affected by the uncertainties in Europe such as United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

As such, he said demand for office space would steadily grow.

As of October 2016, he said there is already a record number of 361,000 sqm of pre-commitments for office space for 2017.

 “BGC, Quezon City and the Bay area will nearly double their office space stock in the next six years. The future office supply will mostly come from BGC, followed by Ortigas/Pasig/Mandaluyong and Quezon City,” Leechiu said.

The current vacancy rate in Metro Manila is now at an all-time low of four percent, he added.

Outside Metro Manila, Leechiu said developers would also beef up their respective portfolio in the provinces to meet the BPO industry’s growing demand.

 At present, there is an existing supply of 1.31 square meters of office supply across the different provinces, bulk of which or 476,000 sqm are in Cebu.

LPC alone has transacted 82,000 square meters of office space since May. Of this number, 76,000 sqm are for IT-BPM companies while the remaining 6,500 sqm are spread across industries.

In terms of live deals for occupier solutions, LPC already has 333,000 sqm in the pipeline. 41,000 sqm are coming from the IT-BPM sector while the rest at 292,000 sqm will come from other industries.

As if all these positive developments aren’t enough, LPC has also successfully completed the acquisition of Vertex Land Development Management Consultancy Inc. (Vertex Land).

Leechiu said the acquisition would allow LPC to offer its clients a full suite of consulting services.

These include market research, project conceptualization and project feasibility – strengthening the firm’s capabilities.

At present, LPC employs 60 experts specializing in the following services: project leasing, occupier solutions, investment sales and BPO site selection.

“We are just starting. We are looking to build the firm as the top real estate company in the Philippines as we bring superior value and profitable real estate assets to our partners and clients,” Leechiu said.  

 With Leechiu at the helm of LPC, there’s no doubt the company would continue to soar high just as the real estate development within and outside Metro Manila continues to boom and as the hulking skyscrapers continue to fill up the country’s skyline.