WAY BACK on Sept. 23, 2014 we discussed in our column the idea of “Business dispersal to the provinces.”
We quoted then senator Alan Peter Cayetano, now secretary of Foreign Affairs, who offered a good formula to decongest Metro Manila streets. He said, “There is simply no more space in Metro Manila for physical expansion, and what must be done is to allot more funds for infrastructure programs to other regions.”
At that time we were already proposing the idea for Iloilo to campaign for corporate groups to consider moving their headquarters to Iloilo.
We are happy for the improved infrastructures in our city and province but we think we have attracted more of commercial establishments expanding here like the shopping malls rather than the headquarters of major businesses in Metro Manila that we had in mind.
Robinsons has added two other locations for its malls aside from the one downtown on Mabini and Ledesma streets. Now they have Robinsons on E. Lopez Street, Jaro, Iloilo City and the third one in Barangay Ungka, Pavia, Iloilo.
This area in Ungka has also the new GT mall just across the wide highway. Nearby, towards the City Proper on the corner of President Corazon C. Aquino Avenue, is CityMall, a branch of the nationwide mall chain of Edgar “Injap” Sia II group.
We have described the impressive expansion of Iloilo in our column of June 12, 2018 titled “For the keen-eyed investor.” Now we have inaugurated this 18-storey SM Strata building across the SM City complex on Diversion Road, which can claim to be the tallest building structure in Western Visayas. It is intended for the expanding BPO (business process outsourcing) business in Iloilo, with 58,346.12 square meters of office space.
Coming back to our idea of “Moving business headquarters to Iloilo”, our city is listed along with Clark in Pampanga as offering more office spaces. A research firm, KMC Savills, has reported that in the Visayas, Iloilo continues to lead the fold in the country with 101,418 square meters of office stock this quarter. Referred to as the booming metro, it expects to complete a total of 142,515 square meters of office spaces by the end of 2019.
KMC further reports that majority of the Iloilo office stock is located in Mandurriao district. The said Iloilo district currently houses 79,620 square meters of office spaces. Data show that in the last quarter of 2019, it will add 22,500 square meters of offices to the current stock.
The big increase in office spaces in Mandurriao comes from the influx of building completions in the area. By the end of 2019, 132,265 square meters of Grade A office spaces will be available. This includes Festive Walk Tower 1 and 2, and Strata Tower 1 also to be finished this year.
The Iloilo Business Park is also a big contributor to office space. It is scheduled to complete TechnoPlace Tower A and B, and Magaworld 808 in 2019. The Iloilo Techno Hub 2 will also rise at the Atria Park by the second quarter of 2019.
We hope that Metro Manila business groups can take note of the unprecedented developments in Iloilo today. We invite those in Metro Manila to visit Iloilo and confirm these observations and be convinced.
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Historical Quote of the Week
“The first Filipino Doctor of Education is Ilonggo Pedro E. Y. Rio.” (For comments or re-actions, please e-mail to jnoveracompany@yahoo.com)/PN
