Alphaland building to open in January

MANILA, Philippines - Alphaland Corp.’s P3-bilion premium-grade green office building at the heart of the Makati central business district will open its doors to the public in January next year, supplying around 48,000 square meters of high-end, state-of-the-art office space.

 “Alphaland Tower will be the newest, prettiest and smartest upscale corporate structure in Makati and the first pre-certified Gold LEED building along Ayala Ave.,” said Mario Oreta, president of Alphaland

The United States Green Building Council’s ratings sytem, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Oreta said the 35-story Alphaland Tower is open for business and welcomes companies looking for Grade A office space.

 “Initially we wanted to lease it to a single tenant but we found out it might be a little difficult to lease it  to just one party. There’s a lot of interest in the building so we decided to lease it a minimum of one floor,” Oreta said.

Alphaland vice-president for marketing Joanna Ongpin Duarte, said the company has received letters of intent from several prospective tenants since last year but has not signed any contract.  “We’re not in a rush to sign contracts. We want to carefully select our tenants.  We want to have Grade A tenants,” she said.

Alphaland, which is known for its high quality and upscale projects, will be leasing out Alphaland Tower at P1,000 per square meter, relatively higher than rates offered by existing Grade A office buildings.

 “We want to maintain our standards.  We’re going to the market at P1,000 per square meter, that steep so at that price it would only appeal to Grade A companies,” Oreta said.

Oreta said the ground and second levels will be offered as prime commercial space ideal for banks while a three-story penthouse is available for single lease.

 “The top three floors are self contained.  They will have their own elevator so that would be perfect for another company, preferably an embassy because it’s secured,” Oreta said.

The fourth floor, on the other hand, will be a food court,  which will be operated by Raintree Restaurants, which manages the Discovery Group of Hotels.  The dining facility will be patterned after Islands Shangri-La in Hong Kong, housing several food stations.