Eton inks lease deal with POGO firm

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) have re-emerged and are now setting up expansion offices in the country.

Lucio Tan-owned Eton Properties said the POGO sector is among the drivers of renewed office development for the company in the second half of the year.

The property developer has sealed a deal with one of the biggest POGO companies from Southeast Asia to lease more than 6,000 square meters of office space or two floors of its eWestPod building inside Eton WestEnd Square.

“With the perceived stability and confidence of a new administration and the market starting to normalize, Eton Properties gradually felt an increase in the demand for leasing spaces this second half of the year,” Eton Properties executive director Kyle Tan said.

“One of the primary effects we see is the confidence of POGOs to return to the Philippines,” he said.

The POGOs  are not just from China, but within neighboring countries in Southeast Asia as well.

Aside from the accelerated demand, the company’s healthy growth performance was also underpinned by the strong client relations and ease of business transactions.

Last month, a Triple A construction firm signed a three-year contract to lease a whole floor or more than 1,000 sqm in another office project, Blakes Tower.

“Eton also sees the positive ripple effect of POGO in our leasing business because some of them are also looking for residential and commercial spaces, which are a good indicator of our overall growth in occupancy rate,” Tan said.

The eWestPod is the company’s one of two office projects within the mixed-use complex of Eton WestEnd Square in Makati.

Eton developed eWestPod to create a particular built-to-suit concept that allows the user or tenant to design and customize the space according to their unique preference.

The office building has four floors of spacious offices well-suited for multinational companies; local corporate headquarters or global support servicing. It also has direct access to the complete range of amenities and close to the modern conveniences of the Makati CBD.

It is located near the major thoroughfares of Ayala and Buendia Avenues and provides workers easy access to the LRT-1 train, public buses, jeepneys, cabs, and even tricycles.

Eton Properties has an extensive land bank in strategic locations all over the country.

It specializes in office projects, commercial centers, and mixed-use township developments, as well as high-end and mid-income high-rise and horizontal residential developments.

Foreign counterpart Eton Properties Ltd, meanwhile, is an established real estate brand in Hong Kong and mainland China.