Property developer Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) on Thursday said its board has approved the establishment of its own real estate investment trust (REIT) company.
The company will place certain office buildings leased to business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in Alabang in Muntinlupa and Cebu in the said REIT firm.
In its disclosure, the company said it is transforming Cyberzone Properties Inc. (CPI), its wholly-owned owned unit, to become the company’s REIT, which will be listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“We are looking forward to listing CPI as a REIT company because we believe that this will unlock the value of our office leasing business. Filinvest has a growing portfolio of recurring income projects and significant prime office properties in Alabang, Cebu and Clark to continue to grow this business. A REIT listing will enable acceleration of the growth of this business line,” FLI President and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap said.
The company did not give other details on the planned establishment of a REIT company.
Most of CPI’s buildings are located in the 18.7-hectare Northgate Cyberzone, a Philippine Economic Zone Authority Special Economic Zone in Filinvest City in Alabang, Muntinlupa, while some are also located in Cebu Cyberzone, also an economic zone in Lahug, Cebu City.
Northgate Cyberzone is strategically located with various supporting amenities and provides competitive rental rates which are significantly lower than the rates in the central business districts of Makati and Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Northgate features the country’s largest district cooling system that helps reduce energy consumption of its property buildings, provides greater efficiency, lowers the initial capital investment, reduces carbon dioxide emissions and enhances real estate value by freeing up building space for other uses.
Filinvest’s BPO buildings have continued to be fully operational during the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. CPI’s office rental revenues increased by 16 percent year-on-year in January to September 2020 to P2.46 billion.
The Gotianun group’s Filinvest is one of the pioneer providers of office space to the BPO industry in the Philippines and currently has 43 operating and under construction office buildings covering over 824,000 square meters of gross leasable area.
