Filinvest wins contract to redevelop site of old Cebu City jail

MANILA, Philippines—Filinvest Land Inc. has bagged a deal to redevelop a 1.2-hectare property owned by the government that was the site of the old Cebu City jail on Salinas Drive in Lahug  to  turn it into a business process outsourcing complex.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday, the property developer announced that it had submitted the winning build-transfer-operate proposal and complied with the requirements contained in the notice of award from the Economic Enterprise Council under the Office of the Governor of the Province of Cebu.

The lot used to be occupied by the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center and the Cebu City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.

“FLI remains bullish on the BPO sector and is rapidly expanding its office portfolio to meet the needs of the industry,” the disclosure said. “FLI believes that Cebu, in particular, has good potential for this business.”

This represents an expansion of FLI’s interest in Cebu. It is currently developing the 50.6-hectare Citta di Mare in the South Road Properties. Two mid-rise building projects, Amalfi Oasis and San Remo Oasis, are also currently being constructed under a joint venture with the Cebu City Government. Land development works on the Il Corso lifestyle strip are likewise ongoing.

Other ongoing projects of FLI include One Oasis Cebu, a 3.7 hectare mid-rise development with a total of 10 buildings adjacent to the Cebu Golf and Country Club. Two buildings have been completed and a third is targeted for completion by year-end. Finally, FLI’s Grand Cenia Hotel and Residences condotel has recently started operations as Quest Hotel and Conference Center, a three-star hotel complete with business and conference facilities.

The Cebu project also scales up FLI’s BPO portfolio. As of the end of 2011, it had over 170,000 square meters of gross leasable area (GLA) from 12 buildings in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest Corporate City in Muntinlupa City and PBCom Tower in Makati City.

At Northgate Cyberzone, another building is currently under construction and will add close to 20,000 square meters of GLA in the first half of 2013, while a 14th building is targeted to break ground within the year with a GLA of 13,000 square meters.

Vector Two, which was completed in the fourth quarter of 2011, is fully taken-up and has been turned over for tenant fit-outs, the disclosure said.

Meanwhile, FLI is constructing a five-storey building along EDSA across the Asian Development Bank building which is expected to be completed within 2012.