Megaworld to build JPMorgan headquarters in Fort Bonifacio
MEGAWORLD Corp. is building an office tower for JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. in Fort Bonifacio, as the global banking and financial services provider consolidates its presence in the country.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the listed property firm said the 25-storey building will serve as JPMorgan’s Philippine Global Service Center. The building will cover a gross leasable area of around 70,000 square meters, making it the largest single office lease transaction in the country in terms of transaction value as well as total space leased to one company.
Located along 38th Street corner 9th Avenue in Uptown Bonifacio, the building will stand near the future Uptown Transport Hub of the proposed Skytrain monorail project being developed by Megaworld’s sister firm, INFRACORP Development, Inc.
Megaworld expects to complete the tower by 2021, with full operations to start by 2022.
The Andrew L. Tan-led firm will lease the building to JPMorgan for a period of 10 years, with a multiple renewal option.
“Megaworld is proud to build the new home of JPMorgan Chase in Fort Bonifacio as it consolidates its existing Metro Manila operations under one roof — all in a state-of-the-art, prime and green office tower right at the heart of the booming Uptown Bonifacio,” Megaworld Senior Vice President Jericho P. Go said in a statement.
Megaworld did not disclose the total cost for the tower, but noted that it is a multibillion peso project.
For his part, JPMorgan Philippine Global Service Center Chief Executive Officer Raoul R. Teh said the building will allow the company to bring its Manila-based employees in one place.
“Manila continues to be a major strategic hub for JPMorgan Chase. Through this landmark development, we are able to consolidate our presence to one location, so enabling us to bring our Manila-based employees together, facilitating increased collaboration while also demonstrating our commitment to providing them with various career opportunities within the firm,” Megaworld quoted Mr. Teh as saying in a statement.
The building will be designed by United Kingdom-based architectural firm Broadway Malyan, and is applying for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification. This indicates that the project will be a green building with energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly components.
“We are excited to be part of this new development that sets new benchmarks for sustainability and reaffirms our global efforts to maintaining exceptional working environments with only the best-in-class infrastructure and facilities for our employees,” Asia Pacific head of JPMorgan’s Global Real Estate team Jun L. Nepomuceno said in a statement.
Megaworld generated a net income attributable to the parent of P7.25 billion in the first half of 2018, 13% higher year-on-year, following a 10% jump in revenues to P26.8 billion.
Shares in Megaworld gained 0.6% or 1.31% to close at P4.65 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Arra B. Francia
