By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

ORTIGAS & CO. unveiled on Wednesday the first office tower in Ortigas East, which is expected to generate P6.6 billion in sales as the property developer banks on the demand from the traditional office market.

The Glaston Tower is the first building to rise in the company’s 16-hectare development. It   will offer a total of 349 office units with a gross leasable area of around 30,000 square meters (sq.m.).

Located along C-5, Ortigas Avenue, and Julia Vargas, Ortigas East is touted as the natural extension of the Ortigas central business district.

“We believe there is a big market for office spaces in the Ortigas business district. In terms of vacancy, Ortigas is among the lowest, and there hasn’t been a new development that has been introduced, a new product that the market requires,” Ortigas President and Chief Executive Officer Jaime E. Ysmael said in a press conference in Pasig City yesterday.

Mr. Ysmael said they are targeting traditional offices such as professional firms, law firms, accounting firms, and medical offices, citing industry reports that the traditional market accounted for 30% of the total office take-up in 2017.

“It’s not designed as a BPO (business process outsourcing) building, because the building is not designed to accommodate huge volumes of people, (so our market is) the traditional office market,” Mr. Ysmael told reporters after the press conference.

The Glaston will have a total of 34 floors, with 25 for offices and 10 for parking or an equivalent of 600 parking slots. Unit sizes range from 76.88 sq.m. to 141.88 sq.m., which each sq.m. priced at an average of P171,000.

The ground floor will house seven retail units covering a leasable area of around 400 sq.m. Ortigas will offer the spaces to both local and international brands, as the company targets to cater to the lifestyle needs of office tenants and residents in the area.

The company expects to complete The Glaston within three to four years.

The Glaston forms part of the first phase of the P50-billion redevelopment of the property formerly known as Frontera Verde. Ortigas is pouring in P18 billion for the first phase of the estate set to run until 2025, which will include residential, retail, and office components.

The second phase will see the development of a park and more residential components, while the third phase will complete Ortigas East’s offering with office, retail, and hotel projects.

The company has tapped international firm Callison RTKL for master planning, and Langan for seismic analysis within the estate. Ortigas is also planning to create a six-lane boulevard for vehicles and bikes.

Mr. Ysmael noted that the capital expenditure budget may increase moving forward.

Ortigas East is one of four growth centers the company is currently developing, with the other three being Greenhills in San Juan, Capitol Commons in Pasig, and Circulo Verde in Quezon City.

“Our intent is to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the real estate market, and the unique location and attributes of that particular estate to the extent the market can accommodate,” Mr. Ysmael said.

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