MANILA — Global real estate consulting firm JLL expects steady and continuing growth for the Philippine real estate sector this year, mainly on the back of the stable demand for office spaces with the country’s strong economic growth.
JLL Philippines Country Head Christophe Vicic said the high demand of the business process outsourcing (BPO) and gaming companies for office spaces is expected to boost developments even outside Metro Manila.
“We are quite confident that it will generate opportunity and it will make real estate industry grow again this year,” he said in an interview this week, following JLL’s acquisition of JCL International, a leading project and construction management company in the country.
Vicic noted that the current expansion of other companies and BPO firms looking for more office spaces will drive the growth of the office market.
“We think that leasing office space will grow between 10 and 15 percent (this year) and these include landlord area and tenant area,” he said.
“The new kid on the block is flexible workspace, FlySpaces, WeWork, these are the newcomer in the real estate sector, where… they only lease a seat and have access to all the facilities, amenities,” he added.
On the residential segment, Vicic sees growth in the low-level segment condominium units ranging from PHP3 million to PHP6 million.
“In the mid-range, there is quite a lot of existing space in the market where we see a smaller growth in this area. And the luxury (residential property market), its (growth is) minimum because it’s really the big tickets and there are only a few developments at the moment on the luxury segment,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vicic said JLL and newly acquired JCL International are looking at some investment projects in hotel and hospitality sector.
“We are looking at providing consultancy and hotel management skills. We are also looking at some projects in the provinces where some (local) governments want to build new townships under the smart city masterplan, which have green areas, doing good to energy conservation,” he said.
JLL Asia Pacific chief executive officer Anthony Couse said: “For JLL, the acquisition will significantly expand our existing project and construction platform, giving us the ability to offer our clients even more services.”
JCL services that will be incorporated into the JLL business include project management, construction management, cost and claims management, procurement management, design management, building audits and consultancy, energy management and audit, and management of testing and commissioning.
The company will operate as JCL International, as part of the JLL network, during the initial transition phase. (Leslie Gatpolintan/PNA)
