MEGAWORLD Corp. is ramping up its office expansion plans with the creation of a new leasing unit aimed at strengthening its position as the country’s largest office developer and lessor.
In a disclosure on Wednesday, the company said it established Megaworld Global Offices, a new office leasing group that will work alongside its existing Megaworld Premier Offices to fast-track the growth of its office portfolio nationwide.
The new unit is expected to help Megaworld achieve its target of 2 million square meters (sqm) of leasable office space, up from its current portfolio of more than 1.6 million sqm spread across nearly 90 office towers across the country.
Megaworld said the expansion will focus on key growth areas, including the Ilocos Region, Pampanga, Cavite, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro, as the company seeks to capture rising demand for office space beyond Metro Manila.
The company is also looking to attract more Fortune 500 multinational firms and startup companies as office tenants. Its office leasing business now hosts nearly 200 tenant companies located mostly in its township developments that have become major cyberparks.
These locations include Eastwood City, Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley Hill, McKinley West and Iloilo Business Park.
“We continue to see strong demand for office spaces in the country, even with the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence and other new technologies,” said Megaworld President and CEO Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, noting that digital advancements continue to drive growth in finance, IT and health care-related industries.
Megaworld Global Offices will be led by Francisco Roxas, a real estate industry veteran with over three decades of experience in development and property management, including executive leadership roles. Roxas holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Asian Institute of Management.
Already the country’s largest office developer, Megaworld’s office buildings currently serve as workplaces for more than 200,000 employees, primarily from the BPO and corporate sectors. Its townships also host global companies such as Google, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, IBM and Accenture.
Megaworld cited its landmark deal with JP Morgan Chase & Co., which operates its Philippine global service center in two LEED-certified office towers in Uptown Bonifacio covering a combined 150,000 sqm.
The property giant said the creation of a new leasing unit forms part of its strategy of growing its portfolio of more than 32 green, LEED-certified and registered office buildings nationwide in line with its push for sustainable office developments.
Megaworld Corp. shares on Wednesday were unchanged at P2.21 each amid a 0.3-percent dip for the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.