Primest office spaces to rise in BGC

MANILA, Philippines - Benefiting from the migration out of Makati of office locators, Bonifacio Global City continues to be the top choice of companies seeking newer building and more conducive work environments, according to industry studies.

According to Sheila Lobien, associate director of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu, office rents in Bonifacio Global City rose by 10 percent since 2009 indicating keen demand for spaces in the emerging business area favored by companies that also consider location as a factor for employee retention. While rents in general are forecasted to significantly rise in all business districts by mid-2010, increase in the new Taguig business hub are expected to be more significant due to the limited inventory of Bonifacio office spaces.

In 2010, four new buildings including W Office, which is adjacent to Bonifacio High Street, are expected to be taken up quickly, observes Lobien. W Office, for instance, is set for completion in August 2010 but she has been receiving inquiries about the project since the start of the year. W Office is being marketed exclusively by Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu and is distinguished by its proximity to the retail and dining options of High Street.

“Multinational and BPO companies are not only attracted by the newer, more efficient buildings coming up in Bonifacio, they are also looking for locations that will help increase employee retention,” explains Lobien.

A favored lunch and after-hours destination of employees throughout the Bonifacio area is Bonifacio High Street, a shady pedestrian boulevard flanked by dining and shopping choices on either side and envisioned to connect the Eastern and Western portion of the city. The linear mall is set for expansion in the near future.

The five-story W Office has been designed to blend with the contemporary lines of Bonifacio High Street. Francis Wee, executive vice president of W Landholdings, Inc., owner and developer of the project. He foresees that retailers would be keenly interested in the ground and mezzanine floors of the buildings because it is just across the street from Bonifacio High Street. He added that the upper floors are suited to multinationals and large companies that need large floor plates to maximize efficiency.

W Office’s location close to Bonifacio High Street limit its height to five stories, which may prove to be advantageous to companies that put a premium on security. “We hope to attract one or two companies that will take up two or three floors each,” discloses Wee “and will appreciate sharing a building with only one or two other tenants.”

The building’s high visibility location prompted W Offices executives to engage Miami-based architectural design firm Arquitectonica. The company’s design brief describes the building’s distinctive façade as a traditional grid which has been reconstructed into two interlocking forms. Lobien comments: “It’s a minimalist design that nevertheless communicates great dynamism.”

W Office will further be distinguished by its green roof. The grid design extends to the rooftop and forms a trellis that provides some cover. During the day, the trellis and its surrounding greens will help to cool down the building, says Gavino Tan of Esteban Y. Tan and Associates, the architect on record of the building. He adds that W Office will make use of a new planting medium that will require a lower volume of soil on the roof garden where functions can be held.

From the roofdeck, say W Offices Inc. executives, visitors as well as tenants of the building will easily catch the new dynamism being offered by the Bonifacio High Street location.