ArthaLand invests in ‘green’ Cebu Exchange

CEBU CITY—In three years, a new iconic structure is expected to rise in the central business district of Cebu City.

Aiming to become the largest “green” office building in the Philippines, Cebu Exchange by boutique developer ArthaLand is expected to help cement Cebu’s reputation as an epicenter of business and growth in the country as well as one of the most prominent IT-BPM destinations in the world.

Construction of the project is on track for completion by 2021 and officials of ArthaLand reported brisk sales of their units.

“The Cebu Exchange is equivalent to three office buildings combined. When completed, it will have more than 12,000 people working in it, which is a massive number of people. That’s why we’re calling it our biggest and our best project to date,” said Leo Po, Arthaland executive vice president and treasurer.

The 39-story building will be divided in three zones. The low zone, from the ninth floor to the 15th floor, will house business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.

The 16th to 29th floors will host large corporate companies and more BPOs; while the 30th to 39th floors will be the high zone, for headquarters of companies as well as small corporate offices.

The basement floors until the eighth floor will feature retail spaces.

According to Po, the project is the only one in the country that will have dual certification on sustainability.

The building is registered with both the US Green Building Council (USGBC) and pre-certified for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).

At the same time, it is also registered with the Philippine Green Building Council (PhilGBC) and is on track to getting the Building for Ecologically Responsive Design Excellence (BERDE) certification.

“This building is a testament to sustainability. We are the only developer that embarks on dual certification with the USGBC and PhilGBC. This shows that we think global but act local. We are bringing a world-class building to this wonderful city,” Po said.