SM to build Iloilo hotel by Q1 2017

ILOILO CITY — SM Prime Holdings, Inc. will break ground for a Park Inn Hotel, located in a new leisure hub beside SM City Iloilo, by the first quarter of 2017.

SM Prime director Hans T. Sy said the 200-bed hotel will be operational within two years.

“That is why, right now, we have a master plan with hotel development and others that will start new ideas that we can bring in,” Mr. Sy said during the opening of the SM City Southpoint last week.

Connected to the shopping mall, the Southpoint building covers 7,541.96 square meters (sq.m.) and houses 24 tenants, mainly restaurants and cafes.

“It has also this open park feeling that I believe is the advantage over here. We have so much land so we can afford to really be a bit more generous. I don’t want it to become like an urban jungle in the future,” he said.

In the meantime, the company is also building a business process outsourcing (BPO) Tower on a 5,480-sq.m. lot in front of the mall. The building, which will have a gross floor area of 45,000 sq.m., is targeted for opening by next year.

Mr. Sy remains bullish about the prospects of the BPO sector despite the possible impact of US president- elect Donald J. Trump’s policies. “I’m not going to say it won’t have any total effect. But let’s be practical. On the business side, the BPO labor cost here... compared with the US, it is still very very cheap,” he said.

“So I am not sure if it would be practical for them to bring it back to the US, unless they think of some incentive for the operators to entice them to go back. But I don’t believe economic-wise, it would be wise for them,” he added.

He added that the BPO market being served by the Philippines is still a small fraction of the total global customer base.

“That is why we have so much confidence that it (Philippine BPO industry) will still grow in the future. Maybe on a bit slower phase but growth will still be there. I myself have not stopped any of our BPO buildings that we are putting up,” said Mr. Sy, who stepped down as SM Prime president in October.

“I always believed that property development is... about the future. And I have very high confidence that Iloilo will do very well,” he added.

The Henry Sy-led property developer’s consolidated net income rose 15% year on year to P4.9 billion in the three months to September, bringing the nine- month result 13% higher to P17.5 billion.