ArthaLand: now is the best time to invest in Cebu

ArthaLand’s Cebu Exchange is set to break ground this 2017. It is the first and only LEED and BERDE registered Grade-A office development in Visayas and Mindanao.

Cebu is growing and the best time to invest here is now. This is what ArthaLand believes this is why it will start to build its P8 billion Grade A green office project in the Queen City of the South this 2017.

Driven by tourism and IT-BPM industries, Cebu has been one of the major contributors to the country’s gross domestic product. It has a rich pool of talents with a literacy rate of 91.45% owing to the good number of schools, colleges, and universities within the city and province.

Cebu has one of the more advanced infrastructures among the key cities outside of Metro Manila. The Mactan – Cebu International Airport received the second largest share of visitor arrivals at about 20.16% as of August of 2016, serving direct flights to key destinations such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Seoul, Narita, Doha, and Los Angeles among others. The construction of the $364 million Terminal 2 is also underway to accommodate more passengers.

The government and the private sectors are well on the way to improving and building more infrastructure in Cebu to further support growth.

Cebu, being located at the heart of the Philippines, is a strategic location for business growth. Outside of Metro Manila, it is the preferred destination of national and multinational enterprises when expanding to the Visayas and Mindanao markets. The city and province host several economic zones that churn products exported to different parts of the globe.

All these contribute to Cebu’s viability for investment.

Major Investment

For its part, ArthaLand, ArthaLand’s Cebu Exchange that is soon to rise along Salinas Drive at the IT Park area is seen to contribute at least Php 7.2B in annual income for a potential of 40,000 IT-BPM employees of locators that will choose to hold office in the project. This is apart from the economic multiplier effect of up to three to four jobs created per BPO employee.

Cebu Exchange is registered under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program as well as in the Philippine Green Building Council’s Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) rating program. It is the first and only development in the Visayas and Mindanao region to be on target to achieve dual green building certification.

Certified green buildings benefit both the landlords as well as the tenants. Cebu Exchange is designed to be resource and operations efficient and to provide healthier working environment to boost productivity and profit. Based on reports by global industry analysts, larger companies prefer to locate in green buildings because of these reasons.

To ensure resource efficiency for the building’s locators, Cebu Exchange will feature green elements such as efficient building envelope, water efficient plumbing system, low-energy air-conditioning system, efficient lighting system, use of low-emitting materials, and allocation for Low-Emitting & Fuel Efficient Vehicle (LEFEV) parking. With its strategic location, the project is well connected to the rest of the community, thus requiring less use of motorized vehicles.

IT-BPM hub

The Cebu IT Park area remains to be a viable location for information technology and business process management industry as shown by the global locators operating in the district. This is proven by the low vacancy rate within the hub.

In a recent publication by the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), the industry is set to grow from 12.6% global market share in 2016 to 15.5% by 2022. It eyes to employ 1.8M Filipinos and earn as much USD 38B by the end of the period.

According to the organization, while North America remains to be the core market, established and recognized brands from Middle East, Europe, Australia, and the Pacific have come to rely on the expertise of the Philippine IT-BPM industry. ADVT