Clark Overtakes Cebu As 2nd Most Active Office Property Market In PH

Clark Freeport emerged as the country’s second largest office market in the first nine months of 2018, according to real estate analyst Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC). It overtook Cebu, which has been the country’s second largest market for office transactions in the past 10 years or so.

According to LPC’s data, total office transactions within Clark spanned 111,000 square meters of office space for the first nine months of 2018, representing eight percent of the total transactions in the country. That’s much higher than Cebu, which only represented five percent of total transactions with 76,000 square meters.

However, it is still only a fraction of Metro Manila, which remains the country’s most active office market. Transactions in the first nine months of 2018 reached 1.1 million square meters in the capital region. (See infographic)

“Starting this year, Clark will become the second-largest destination for demand for both BPOs (business process outsourcing companies) and POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operators),” said David Leechiu, CEO of LPC, in a media briefing on September 18. “The companies that are [already] in Metro Manila and Cebu will now look for a third home, and that third home will naturally be Clark.”

Leechiu credited Clark’s rise in popularity to the large infusion of capital into the area in the past few years. And while majority of the office occupiers in Clark are still from the BPO industry, he sees several POGOs and government agencies taking up significant space in the area.

“It’s really improved the investor sentiment of Clark,” said Leechiu.

He added that much of these developments are focused on Clark Global City (CGC), a 177-hectare mixed-use development setting itself up as a major central business district in the country. Data from LPC’s research reveal that much of the pipeline office supply in provincial areas for the next seven years will come from Pampanga, and Leechiu highlighted CGC as the major contributor to that supply.

“There’s a lot of stock in the provinces, mostly in Pampanga [and] mostly in the Clark Global City, which I think will be the most important district outside Manila,” said Leechiu.

CGC is owned by Udenna Corp., the holding company of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy. Last November, Udenna acquired the land from property developer Global Gateway Development Corp. for $1 billion.

 

SOURCE

Lorenzo Kyle Subido (2018, September 18). Clark Overtakes Cebu as 2nd Most Active Office Property Market in PH Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com.ph/news-and-events/clark-overtakes-cebu-as-2nd-most-active-office-property-market-in-ph-a00200-20180918