FILINVEST REIT Corp. (FILRT) announced its plans to grow its portfolio by more than a third by adding three “Grade A” office buildings to cover 103,000 square meters (sq.m.) of land in about a year or a year and a half.
In a news release on Thursday, FILRT said the three buildings are Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone Tower 2 in Cebu City, Filinvest Axis Tower 2 in Muntinlupa City, and PBCom Tower in Makati City.
FILRT currently owns 17 Grade A office buildings covering a total of 300,000 sq.m. of land with an asset value of P48.5 billion.
Of these buildings, 16 are located in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang, a PEZA Special Economic Zone and IT park, while one is in the gateway of the Cebu IT park in Lahug, Cebu City.
The additional office buildings will bring the company’s portfolio to 20 office buildings covering 403,000 sq.m. of land in total.
FILRT said it expects a strong recovery of the economy next year, especially in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which it said comprises about 91% of its tenant base.
“With the opening of the economy and growing demand of multinational BPO companies, we remain optimistic that occupancy will further improve despite the lingering effects of the pandemic,” FILRT President and Chief Exec-utive Officer Maricel Brion-Lirio said.
She added that in January to September, the company had renewed 90% of all expiring leases for 2021.
FILRT is a green or sustainability-themed real estate investment trust company.
Two of its buildings were awarded gold certificates by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a rating system for green buildings used worldwide.
The Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang, where 16 of FILRT’s buildings are located, is also the country’s first central business district to receive gold certification from LEED for its neighborhood development plan.
LEED’s gold certification is the second highest after platinum. Buildings with gold ratings received 60 to 79 points for their green building strategies, while platinum awardees received 80 points and above.
Shares in FILRT at the stock exchange on Thursday rose by 3.64% or 28 centavos to close at P7.98 each. — Bianca Angelica D. Añago
