MANILA, Philippines — Apart from the burgeoning business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, location-based enterprises such as shipping, logistics, and maritime-related companies comprise substantial tenancy in SM Land office buildings, particularly its new TwoE-comCenter development in Mall of Asia Complex (MOAC), Pasay City.

According to an official of SM Land's Commercial Properties Group, increasing demand is being felt from these shipping companies as they seek a "flight to quality" from the traditional Manila port areas, which have been marked by traffic congestion, security concerns, and overall deterioration of facilities and infrastructure over the past decades.

"These companies located in the old port area of Manila have had to contend with less than ideal conditions for conducting business in exchange for proximity to the bay area," explains David Rafael, SM Land senior vice president and head of Commercial Properties Group. "We had recognized this unfulfilled niche and deliberately leveraged the prime bayside location of MOAC to offer an exciting, new alternative business home for these local and multinational logistics and maritime firms."

Rafael issued the statement on the opening of the P2.4-billion TwoE-comCenter, the second in a series of four office buildings to comprise SM Land's premier business hub in MOAC. The 14-level, twin-tower structure has around 102,000 sqm of gross leasable area (GLA), showcasing large floor plates of 2,500 sqm to 3,000 sqm, and up to 6,000 sqm in special floors.

These large floor plates are primary considerations for flexible and maximized workspaces in BPO companies, Rafael noted.

For shipping companies, the prime location remains the top value proposition, coupled with the master-planned nature of the complex. "Seamen or shipping crew members would usually spend the day at the mall with their families and loved ones before departing for duty or reporting for work in their offices," says April Misa, SM Land leasing manager. "This is an insight into the needs and lifestyle of our target market that we have paid close attention to and addressed."

With the anticipated continuous growth in demand, SM Land will put up the P2.9-billion ThreeE-comCenter, targeting to break ground within the first quarter of 2012.

Shipping, logistics and maritime-related firms located in the earlier completed OneE-comCenter include the Maersk Group of Companies, American President Lines (APL), MOF Hanjin, and OSTE Crewing. Locators in TwoE-comCenter include Anscor Swire Ship Management Corp., Klaveness, Ben Line Agencies, CMA CGM and OOCL Philippines.

"Our goal with our E-com buildings is to provide value-for-money office solutions-the functionality and prestige of a CBD address, at costs not usually associated with such. We thus especially serve the need of emergent and cost-sensitive business operations," concludes Rafael.