Grow Your Business

For entrepreneurs wanting to consider opportunities beyond Metro Manila, there's been exciting real estate development happening south of the metro. If you're looking for office space to expand your business there consider the newest 13-storey Kingston Tower in the Madrigal Business Park, Ayala Alabang.

Phillip Anonuevo, associate director of Jones Lang LaSalle Leechiu (JLLL), sole leasing agent of Kingston Tower, discloses that potential lessees are companies seeking to do business with the manufacturing giants in nearby Sta. Rosa, Laguna where busy Philippine industrial zones are located. “It seems the Philippines is once more a competitive manufacturing site for a number of global players,” he says.

Related story: A guide on the real estate expansion happening south of Manila

In a recent Asia CEO Business Forum, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Philippines Corporation (Hitachi GST) president Chandra Anamirtham confirmed the resurgence of the Philippines as a manufacturing site. He disclosed that competitive wages, skills and loyalty of local workers prompted his firm to expand operations here. Loyalty is measured by the attrition rate or the percentage of employees that leave the company every year. “Our five percent attrition rate encourages us to stay in the Philippines,” he said. He added that attrition rate in their Shenzen, China plant can climb to as high as 30 percent.

In the meantime, Madrigal Business Park developments like Kingston Tower is benefitting from the renewed interest of manufacturing firms in the Philippines.  Andy Gomez, JLLL assistant manager, relates that large Philippine companies needing a presence in key growth areas in the country are responsible for pushing up demand in Madrigal Business Park and neighboring Northgate Cyberzone also in Muntinlupa. Small and medium enterprises and professional firms have also set up offices in the vicinity.

Anonuevo observes that in contrast to the other smaller business districts in Metro Manila, the Muntinlupa area has had a dearth of new projects. After Kingston Towers opens its doors this month, no other office building is expected up to the end of 2012.

The limited supply of office space in Muntinlupa is heightened by the fact that most buildings there were built in the ‘90s and are close to 20 years old. Existing offices in the area are less energy efficient and more costly to run with older lighting and air conditioning systems.