Century Properties to complete P4.5-B office tower in 2019

As part of its expanding office property footprint, Antonio family-led Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) expects to complete by September 2019 its single biggest office project yet, the P4.5-billion Century Diamond Tower, which can yield close to a billion pesos in annual revenues.

This 35-story Philippine Economic Zone Authority-accredited premium office building is seen to support the targeted buildup in CPG’s rental revenues to at least P1.5 billion annually or around 30 percent of total business by 2020.

Through Century City Development II Corp. (CCDCII), which CPG co-owns with Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan, an agreement was signed on Tuesday with real estate brokerage firm Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) to lease out Century Diamond Tower, formerly Forbes Media Tower.

With 58,618 square meters of net leasable area within the Century City estate in Makati, Century Diamond is the biggest office property asset so far in CPG’s portfolio.

Based on an estimated monthly rental rate of P1,200 to P1,300 per square meter, this new office tower is expected to generate P844 million to P914.44 million in annual rental revenues once fully leased out.  This would account for a significant bulk of CPG’s recurring revenues in the coming years.

Under the agreement signed on Tuesday, Leechiu will be the exclusive agent to market the leasable space in Century Diamond.

“Century Diamond Tower’s completion next year will be a timely addition to the scarce supply of premium offices in the Makati CBD (central business district). Century Properties remains bullish about the office market given the continued strong demand for quality office spaces. I am happy to note that our pipeline of projects under CPG’s business platform of for-lease properties is well-equipped to cater to the needs of discerning office locators. With Leechiu, we expect locators from multinational corporations to the business process and knowledge process outsourcing (BPO and KPO) sectors,” said Marco Antonio, CPG chief operating officer.

“Our partnership started three years ago for Century Diamond Tower and we thank Century Properties for a fruitful partnership, as well as the opportunity to share Mitsubishi Corporation’s expertise into the project. The demand for business space in Makati will always be present and this building will be a prime addition to the limited office supply in the city,” said Masahiro Nagaoka, Mitsubishi deputy general manager.

Formerly the Forbes Media Tower, the building has been renamed to Century Diamond Tower to build equity for the Century brand as it boosts its leasing business. CPG’s goal is to increase leasing revenues by over five times, from P342 million last year to a target of P1.5 billion by 2020.

“We are excited with this project because of its accessibility. It is closer to Edsa than many parts of the CBD. Accessibility remains to be one of the top considerations of companies. Companies cannot go wrong with a well-designed building in a good location,” said Phillip Anonuevo, executive director of LPC.

CPG has been diversifying its portfolio, from  high-rise condominium projects to other segments such as affordable horizontal housing, leisure and tourism developments and other leasable properties.

From its current completed gross floor area of about 133,000 square meters, the leasing portfolio is targeted to increase to about 300,000 square meters by 2020. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA