Ayala Land breaks ground on fourth eBloc tower

CEBU, Philippines - Amid aftershock jitters, the Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), together with its affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc., has reinforced its commitment for Cebu and broke ground for the fourth eBloc tower project at the Cebu IT Park.

Developed by the ALI and CHI’s Asian i-Office Properties Inc., eBloc4 tower is a sequel to the eBlocs 2 and 3, envisioned to become a premier location for business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services business locators.

Also, the company held a ceremonial topping off of the 12-story eBloc3 building that is scheduled to be completed by second quarter of 2014.

Ayala Land, Inc. president and chairman of Cebu Holdings, Inc. Tony T. Aquino said that the topping off of eBloc3 and ground breaking of eBloc4 held early this week signify their commitment and confidence that Cebu, as well as Bohol, can move forward from quake’s aftermath.

Aquino said that apart from the event, they made sure to come down to Cebu and personally check their properties and was pleased to see that all of their properties fared well with the earthquake and did not sustain any critical structural damage.

According to Ayala Land Offices head Carol T. Mills, they are currently negotiating with major outsourcing companies in Manila which are expanding or planning to expand their operations in Cebu.

Cebu houses biggest concentration of outsourcing companies outside of Metro Manila.

“We are now talking to several companies. We are confident that by the time the building is complete, we will have had locators to occupy the building,” said Mills.

Aquino said that Cebu's talent pool and metropolitan lifestyle are key “pull” for these companies to come and setup offices here.

To help ensure more available space and propel growth in the industry, the group also broke ground yesterday for eBloc4 located in a 3,649-square meter lot right beside eBloc1, which is currently occupied by NCR and JP Morgan Chase.

For the fourth tower, Mills said they are investing P800 million which will add approximately 15,845 square meters of leasable space in a 12-story structure that is targeted to be completed by 2015.

In the last three years, the company has already invested P15 billion, average of P5 billion investments per year for Cebu.

These projects are located at the Cebu IT Park and the Cebu Business Park.

“We expect to invest another P15 billion in the next three years for more projects within our properties,” said Aquino.

By December this year, Ayala Center Cebu Phase 2B is expected to soft open, according to Aquino.

Other projects that are currently under construction include residential projects under Avida Land Corporation, Alveo Land Corporation, Ayala Land Premier.

Aquino said that they are soon going to introduce Amaia Land Corp. to Cebu and perhaps a medical component into their properties here.

In Cebu IT Park, they are now working on the plans for their second mall that will be built in the “superblock” area which has a total land area of three hectares.

Aquino said that they are slowly relocating the companies occupying the eOffice which sits on the area where the mall is set to be built. /JMD (FREEMAN)