CEBU as Asia’s hub for information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) will get a boost when six major projects are completed within the next two years in the 25-hectare Asiatown IT Park.

Developer Cebu Property Ventures Development Corp. said in a statement that four buildings would be completed by the third quarter of 2008. Cebu Property Ventures is a unit of Cebu Holdings Inc., an affiliate of Ayala Land Inc. The unit is also partly owned by the Cebu provincial government.

Set for completion are the 11-story Skyrise 2; 15-story TG Tower; 17-story i3; and 12-story eBloc Tower. The projects combine for more than 50,000 square meters (sq m) of leasable space.

“These buildings will offer more office spaces, retail shops, entertainment bars, additional 24/7 food shops and restaurants to accommodate Cebu’s new round-the-clock business and entertainment lifestyle,” Cebu Property Ventures president Francis O. Monera said in the statement.

Cebu Property Ventures is developing its own BPO building, eBloc Tower, to house IT and IT-enabled firms thru Asian i-Office Properties Inc., a special purpose vehicle composed of the combined investments of Cebu Property Ventures and Ayala Land Inc.

e-Bloc Tower is a mid-rise office condominium that will have 21,000 sq m of leasable space and 1,700  sq m of  ground floor retail space. The construction is due to be completed by September 2008.

Asiatown’s fast-paced development along with the entry of locators such as NKC Conveyors Philippines Corp., Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Inc. (Cebu), Morph Rapid Solutions Inc., Micro D International, Cordia Philippines and Convergys Philippines have generated more job opportunities and tremendously contributed to the growth of Asiatown.

Asiatown currently houses BPO giants eTelecare and PeopleSupport.

Another development in the offing is Asiatown as retail hub, in an area that was before occupied by The Village. This will soon be a 24/7 district of affordable restaurants, cafés, convenience store, salon and spa and specialty stores for music, books, gifts and body care.

The retail complex sits in a 1,860-sq m area with 32 parking slots, and is set for a soft opening on May 1.

Asiatown is in Cebu’s former La Guardia Airport. BPO and software firm locators currently employ close to an estimated 12,000 people there.

CEBU as Asia’s hub for information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) will get a boost when six major projects are completed within the next two years in the 25-hectare Asiatown IT Park.

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