AppleOne partners with IWG in co-working space venture

CEBU, Philippines — AppleOne Properties Inc., (API) enters into co-working space development in partnership with International Workplace Group (IWG).

API formally signed the franchise partnership agreement with IWG yesterday morning at the Diamond Suites and Residences, to build ten flexible office space centers in the Visayas in the next five years.

The Cebu-based API is the first IWG franchisee in Asia Pacific, helping the global flexible workspace provider boost its footprint in the Philippines.

API president and chief executive officer (CEO) Ray Go Manigsaca said the company is looking at providing at least 2,500 flexible working stations in different sites in the Visayas like Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Dumaguete, Iloilo and Bacolod in five years.

At present, API has two co-working centers located at AppleOne Equicom Tower in Cebu Business Park operated by IWG, providing a total of 500 working stations.

Coworking space is an arrangement in which several workers from different companies share an office space, allowing cost savings and convenience through the use of common infrastructure, such as equipment, utilities, and receptionist and custodial services, and in some cases refreshments and parcel acceptance services.

According to Lars Wittig, IWG country manager for the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and South Korea, the Philippines is highlighted as the best performing market in the world, in the flexible office business. This is the reason why the first franchise deal in Southeast Asia was inked with a Cebuano developer.

Under the franchise partnership agreement, API and WGI will work together over five years to develop new centers in six cities across the Visayas region.

These centers will join the IWG global network that currently consists of 3,400 locations across 120 countries.

In the Philippines, IWG has 28 locations in 10 cities across Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and Clark.

IWG entered the Philippines in 1998 in Metro Manila. It expanded in Cebu in 2013.

IWG, a London Stock Exchange listed company, is the leading flexible workspace provider in the world, offers an unrivalled choice of workspaces through its operating companies; Regus, Spaces, HQ and Signature by Regus—each designed to serve the unique needs of business of every size..

API is the parent company of several property developments. Under its wing are AppleOne Mactan Inc., the developer of five-star Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort, The Residences at Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort, and Mahi by AppleOne Properties, Inc.; Brickwall Construction & Development, Boardwalk City Residences, and CityMall Danao; Sunsky Development Corp., and AppleOne Equicom Tower.