Firm: POGO office-space demand to top BPOs’
Credit to Author: ANGELICA BALLESTEROS, TMT| Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2019 16:20:32 +0000
THE Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) industry is expected to surpass the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector in terms of office-space demand in almost two decades this year amid warmer relations between the Philippines and China.
In a briefing in Makati City on Wednesday, Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) Executive Officer David Leechiu said that “for the first time in 19 years, POGO will surpass BPO demand in office spaces.”
For this year, LPC expects office spaces in Metro Manila to surpass the 1.2-million square meter (sqm) taken up in 2018, of which 450,000 sqm was seen taken up by POGOs.
The BPO sector, however, remained the one with the highest demand in the first half of the year at 244,000 sqm, compared with POGOs take-up of 242,000 sqm.
“But we expect the POGO industry to be the biggest demand driver by yearend. due to its faster site selection process and the effect of the recent moratorium on PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) applications in Metro Manila,” Leechiu said.
According to LPC’s latest report, since 2016, offshore gaming has been the fastest-growing industry in the Philippine office market, taking up substantial space in the Manila Bay area, Makati City and Alabang.
It noted that outside Metro Manila, POGOs have expanded to Laguna province, taking up 46,000 sqm. of office space; Cebu City in Cebu province, 37,000 sqm.; Clark in Pampanga province, 34,000 sqm.; and Cavite province, 13,000 sqm.
LPC said it would continue to take up space in other cities with the completion of several infrastructure projects.
Among the companies with the largest office exposure now are Ayala Land Inc., with 11 percent; Megaworld Corp., 8 percent; SM Prime Holdings Inc., 7 percent; Robinsons LandCorp., 4 percent; and Filinvest Land Inc., 3 percent.
The country’s residential market also saw strong demand from POGOs, as the latter is now said to be a significant driver of residential prices in the metropolis.
In the first half of the year, POGOs have sent the Manila Bay area’s rental prices in residential units soaring by 156 percent to P1,600 per sqm since 2015. This was followed by by a 118-percent surge in Alabang with P1,200/sqm; Ortigas and Mandaluyong, up 46 percent; Makati, rising by 25 percent; and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, climbing 16 percent.
Leechiu said there were 354,000 POGO employees at present and the industry would need 75,000 units to satisfy their housing needs.
Outside Metro Manila, the next new hubs for POGOs are Clark and Cavite, with the latter said to be the “second Lucky Chinatown,” thanks to a planned development in the province that will be dedicated solely to the POGO sector.
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