LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—Real-estate developer Megaworld disclosed on Wednesday the upcoming operations of its new tenant-partner in its existing township project here.
The company also announced the development plan for the beach area for more businesses to set up office as it continues with the development of the 30-hectare property.
“Megaworld officially welcomes Concentrix—another first-time BPO [business-process outsourcing] locator to Cebu, set to start operations by the second half of this year at our very own The Mactown Newtown Township development,” Megaworld Senior Vice President (SVP) Jericho P. Go told reporters at the company’s media briefing held at Mövenpick Hotel on Mactan Island, Cebu.
“As a company space developer and lessor of office space, we highly value every opportunity of expansion that we offer our partners like Concentrix. Their entry to Cebu brightens the BPO industry in Central Visayas. We are happy and proud they have again chosen another member of our township as their home,” he said.
Following the entry of The Results Companies, Enfra USA and Manulife, Concentrix is the fourth BPO firm to open shop in Megaworld’s urban-township development that boasts of its own beachfront.
The BPO firm chose Cebu for its expansion outside of Metro Manila to take advantage of the talent pool available in this so-called Queen City of the South, Concentrix Philippine Country leader David Brooks said. “Initially, we will have 450 seats to 500 jobs by the end of the year,” he said of their hiring initiative for this new facility.
This office will occupy about 2,600 square meters of space on the second floor of Tower 3 of 8 Newtown Boulevard.
The mixed-use cluster of 8 Newtown Boulevard boasts of four office towers, with total leasable space of 25,400 sq m.
Each tower has three floors of office spaces, while the ground floor will be leased for commercial and retail purposes.
Currently, the three levels of Tower 1 are occupied by The Results Companies, which expanded its operations from One World Center this year.
The existing BPO locators in The Mactan Newtown have been excited about the future of the township, especially after the company bared its plans for the beachfront and the Mactan Shrine area, Go said.
The Andrew Tan-led real-estate developer is currently building an interim beachfront pavilion to cater to the BPO companies that need venues for team-building activities and events.
“Mactan Newtown is our first and only township that has its own beachfront. The good news doesn’t stop there. The better news is that you as our valued partner will be able to enjoy the privileges of using the beachfront facilities we are building,” the Megaworld SVP said.
“So that should become available within the year—by the third quarter of this year. [It’s] exclusive for the occupants and tenants, [as well as] the residents of the Mactan Newtown. It is not open to the public,” he said.
To date, Megaworld has already completed six office buildings in The Mactan Newtown, namely, One World Center, Two World Center and the four towers of 8 Newtown Boulevard.
The opening of the new structures in the latter project has brought the total office-space inventory in this township project to over 38,000 sq m, generating at least 12,000 jobs.
Two more office towers—Tower One Plaza Magellan and Pacific World Tower—are expected for completion in 2018, bringing the overall office space inventory to 80,000 sq m.
Within the next five to seven years, Go said they will build permanent structures that will transform the beachfront of the township into a world-class tourism and recreational hub.
Specifically, the area that used to be the Portofino Beach Resort will be transformed into a tourism center that includes a beach club, sports and recreational facilities, and hotel developments.
“By then, we hope Concentrix has already expanded and occupied more floors of our various office towers, for certainly, recruitment of work force will never be a problem in a location where the beach is just a few steps away from their very place,” the top executive said.
Go said the Mactan area has a huge available labor market, considering that 25,000 of the 100,000 BPO workers currently employed in Cebu City live here or in Lapu-Lapu area.
“Tapping that resource would already be a huge advantage for the Mactan Newtown,” he said.
Megaworld earlier announced it will build between 5 and 10 office towers in The Mactan Newtown by 2021, offering an estimated 150,000 sq m of office spaces that can accommodate around 45,000 workers in the information-technology-BPO sector.
The company has allocated P30 billion to develop The Mactan Newtown for a period of seven to 10 years.
With these upcoming in building Mactan Island’s largest cyberpark, as they hope to further strengthen Cebu’s position as one of the country’s top BPO hubs.