MANILA, Philippines – ArthaLand Corp., the listed boutique property developer of the Po family, is pouring in P8 billion for a 38-story office building in Cebu, banking on the province’s growing reputation as the central business district of the Visayas region.
The Cebu Exchange is ArthaLand’s first project outside Metro Manila after Arya Residences and the ongoing Arthaland Century Pacific Tower, which are both in Bonifacio Global City.
In a press briefing yesterday, ArthaLand officials said the Cebu Exchange is a grade A office development which is expected to generate P11.5 billion in sales.
“This will be right across the Cebu IT Park. It’s a very prime property,” ArthaLand president Angela Villa-Lacson said.
The project will have 316 office spaces, four floors of retail outlets and 30 large-cut office floors.
The first phase of the project is targeted for completion by 2020 while the second one is expected to be completed by 2022.
Villa-Lacson said the company chose Cebu because of its strong growth potential.
“We are starting in Cebu because it has exhibited fantastic growth and strong potential. The local government is building world-class infrastructure. It’s a place for progressive business and the place to be in Metro Manila,” she said.
Cebu Exchange is designed to address the IT and business process outsourcing industry’s growing demand for quality space, officials said.
The project will rise at the property that ArthaLand recently acquired along Salinas Drive at the Cebu IT Park area.
To be built on more than 8,000 square meters of prime property, Cebu Exchange will be the largest and the tallest IT-BPM business ecosystem at the Cebu IT Park area.
De Villa-Lacson said the company was optimistic about the growth prospects of Visayas and Mindanao.
“ArthaLand sees robust opportunities, especially in the IT and business process management sector. This is why we are aiming to launch Cebu Exchange very soon,” she said.
The company is set to launch the project on Oct. 26.
Cebu Exchange boasts of environment-friendly features as it would be VisMin’s first and only office development on target to achieve dual green building certification under the US Green Building Council’s LEED program and the Philippine Green Building Council’s BERDE certification programs.
Among its green elements are efficient building envelope, water efficient plumbing system, low-energy consuming air-conditioning system, efficient lighting system, use of low-emitting materials, and allocation for Low-Emitting and Fuel Efficient Vehicle parking.