Online gambling tops office market demand

Credit to Author: Tyrone Jasper C. Piad| Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:16:19 +0000

THE Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGOs) business drove the demand for the office market this year, accounting for over 40 percent of the take-up, Leechiu Property Consultants said.

David Leechiu, the firm’s chief executive officer, said in a statement on Monday that POGO clients were occupying 738,000 square meters (sqm) out of the 1.7-million sqm total take-up this year.

Majority or over 80 percent of POGO offices are in Metro Manila (National Capital Region), which translates to 608,000 sqm — a 100 percent higher than 296,000 sqm the previous year.

Leechiu noted that most of the POGO transactions were done during the second quarter, carrying the momentum until the last quarter.

“During this period, gaming operators took up entire buildings in the Bay Area, Quezon City and Makati City,” Leechiu said.

In Bay Area, POGOs took up 75 percent of the 468,000-sqm office stock, Leechiu said, noting that they “prefer to occupy entire buildings which [it] could steadily supply.”
High POGO office demand was also seen in Clark, Pampanga and Cebu.

‘Lack of PEZA supply’

Following POGOs are the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) sector, which absorbed 573,000 sqm or 34 percent — a decrease by 14 percent from last year “due to the lack of readily available office supply and a wait-and-see attitude.”

Leechiu said the slowdown of take-up for the IT-BPM sector was also due to Administrative Order 18 released in June, which effectively banned the processing of new economic zones in Metro Manila.

“Supply of PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority)-accredited vacant spaces in both Metro Manila and provincial locations will be extremely low in the next five years,” the property consultant said.

“Lack of PEZA supply is likely to make the Philippines a less attractive hub for IT-BPM firms on expansion mode. We need more PEZA-accredited buildings in the pipeline if we want the country to continue being an ideal location for these companies,” he added.

The remaining 22 percent or 370,000 sqm of the take-up were comprised of flexible workspaces and real estate firms.

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