ArthaLand to build P3.5-B office tower

MANILA, Philippines - Boutique developer ArthaLand Corp. is breaking ground this month for its latest project, an office building that is being promoted to host the regional headquarters of the world’s largest multinational companies.

 “This iconic building will be a premium-grade building intended to attract the most prestigious companies,” ArthaLand president Angela de Villa Lacson said in a recent report to the company’s shareholders.

ArthaLand Tower will rise on a 2,233 sqm lot bound by three major roads at Bonifacio Global City (BGC): 5th avenue, 30th street and 4th avenue. It will sit right across the proposed Shangri-La Hotel.

The P3.5-billion, 30-story building is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (New York), architects of the One World Trade Center in New York, also known as the “Freedom Tower”. The project is designed in collaboration with top Filipino architectural firm, GF & Partners Architects Co.

It will have 21 office floors, 14 elevators, and 28,000 square meters of leasable space, the company said.

Among ArthaLand Tower’s special amenities for tenants will be a roof-deck for events, a private terrace on the 27th floor, and a “cafetorium” for employes.  There will also be high-end retail outlets.

Lacson said ArthaLand decided to develop an office building as a response to the “very strong” demand for office space at BGC.

 “Spaces are leased out one year before completion, sometimes even earlier. Most of the buildings going up now in BGC are pre-committed,” she said.

She said multinational companies are drawn to BGC’s low occupancy costs.

Average rental rates at BGC now stands at P800 per sq m, while five “premium-rated” buildings in Makati charge about P1,100 per sqm.

“The rental values are likely to continue rising for different types of requirements from large anchor tenants to smaller lettings,” said Lacson.

She said with high demand and limited supply, “new space has been absorbed rather quickly, suggesting chronic demand for office space”.

Vacancy rates in BGC are at a low 2.9 percent, she added.

Lacson also ArthaLand’s revenues last year grew 60 percent to P2.33 billion from the previous year on high sales take-up and on-schedule development of Arya Residences.

Net income rose 6.4 percent to P283 million.

In the first quarter, the company’s net income jumped 6 per cent to P111 million year-on-year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation grew 20 percent to P207 million, and is already 43 percent of the whole of last year.

The company’s assets, meanwhile, grew 12 percent to P4.88 billion in the first quarter from end-2013.

ArthaLand has been turning over units to buyers of Arya Residences Tower 1, and hopes to complete the turnover by the third quarter.