Office space demand to remain strong – JLL

MANILA, Philippines — Demand for office spaces is expected to remain stable and resilient, with the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector leading the growth in the Philippines, according to a study by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

“The information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry may continue to spearhead demand for office spaces and this potential new trend of setting up satellite offices would be a strategic fit for the industry considering the significant number of employees in the sector,” JLL said in an Office Market Study of Metro Manila and Metro Cebu prepared for Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI).

Against this backdrop, FLI’s Filinvest REIT Corp. will continue to hitch a ride on this growing demand from the IT-BPM sector as its strengthens its office leasing business despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Filinvest REIT’s IPO has already received the green light from the Philippine Stock Exchange Inc.

It aims to raise P14.92 billion from the IPO, slated to run from July 26 to Aug.3, based on the latest timetable submitted to regulators. Listing of the shares has been set on Aug. 12.

The company will offer up to 1.6 billion common shares at a price of up to P8.30 per share with an overallotment option of up to 163.4 million common shares.

Filinvest REIT manages the 18.7-hectare Northgate Cyberzone property in Filinvest City, Alabang – one of the first Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) accredited IT Parks in the Philippines.

While the pandemic has dramatically altered the global business landscape and has reduced companies’ office space requirements due to the shift to work-from-home arrangements, JLL said this may not necessarily be the case in the Philippines where demand for office spaces is seen to continue growing.