GOTIANUN-LED Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILREIT) is cementing its footprint in the information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) industry in Cebu even in the midst of a pandemic-stricken environment.

Two new towers will be constructed in Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu located along corner West Geonzon Street, Barangay Lahug, Cebu City. These are in addition to Towers 1 and 2.

Towers 3 and 4 are scheduled for delivery in June 2022 and February 2023, respectively, according to the company’s website.

“The Filinvest Group has an expansive land bank in Cebu as well as in the South Road Properties, where additional office projects may be developed. Once these properties qualify with track record requirements under the applicable rules and regulations and their rental streams become stable and accretive, such properties may later be infused in FILREIT,” the company said in an email interview.

FILREIT (currently Cyberzone Properties Inc.) will be the commercial REIT platform for the Filinvest Group.

At present only Cebu Tower 1 building in Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu will be part of Filinvest REIT Corp.’s initial portfolio at its initial public offering.

Cebu Tower 1 is the first building in the Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu completed in June 2015 with 19,937 square meters (sq.m.) of office gross leasable area (GLA) and 675 sq.m. of retail GLA. It primarily caters to business process management businesses.

Tower 2, on the other hand, is a 20-story building completed in September 2018.

In terms of expansion to other locations, the company said the Filinvest Group has extensive land banks in three major hubs--in the National Capital Region, Metro Clark and Metro Cebu.

While there will be projects in other locations such as in Mindanao, these three hubs will likely be the main centers of expansion due to their access to manpower, support services, and an international airport, it said.

According to the company, retail properties may also later be included in the property portfolio of FILREIT and become a source of diversification when the pandemic impact is over and earning from such properties stabilizes.

The company said some retail properties may be repurposed into office spaces.

With properties shifting to sustainability efforts, a proposal for an energy efficiency program that will be in cooperation with the Philippine DCS Development Corp. (PDDC) will be explored for its Cebu Cyberzone buildings, once critical mass will be reached.

PDDC is the same company that runs the District Cooling System (DCS) in Northgate Cyberzone. The DCS provides significant energy savings as well as reduces carbon emissions.

In addition, the Filinvest Group recently entered the industrial park and logistics warehouse business through New Clark City and Filinvest Techno Park projects.

“We plan to aggressively pursue its development and marketing to match the increased demand, particularly from logistics-related services, which has been accelerated by the pandemic,” the company said.

Filinvest Group also targets to foray into the co-living space with The Crib Clark, The Crib Alabang and The Crib Mandaluyong dormitory projects which they target to launch in 2022 onwards. (JOB)