Podium West Tower in Manila on track for completion in 2019
Keppel Land Limited (Keppel Land) and Philippine joint venture partner, Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. (BDO), a member of the SM Group, marked the topping off of The Podium West Tower, a landmark Grade A office tower in Mandaluyong City under Phase Two of the SM-KL Project, in a ceremony held Sept. 27.
Keppel Land’s subsidiary, Keppel Philippines Properties, holds a 40 percent stake in the SM-KL Project, while BDO and an associate company hold the remaining stakes.
The event was attended by Mayor Menchie Abalos of Mandaluyong City, Singapore Ambassador to the Republic of the Philippines Kok Li Peng as well as senior management from Keppel Land and BDO.
Sam Moon Thong, president (Regional Investments) at Keppel Land, said: “We are privileged to participate in the growing Philippine economy together with our partner BDO in developing this premier and eco-conscious commercial development. When completed in the second quarter of 2019, The Podium West Tower will meet the growing demand for high-quality office premises by multinational and local corporations seeking a strategic and prime address in the heart of the city.”
For its sustainable features, the development has been conferred the LEED Gold Mark (Core & Shell) precertification by the US Green Building Council, and is the first building in the Philippines to receive the provisional Green Mark Gold Award by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.
The Podium integrated mixeduse development also bagged eight accolades at the 2018 Property Guru Philippines Property Awards, including Best Universal Design Development, Best Green Development, Best Office Development in Manila as well as Best Mixed-use Development.
An eco icon, The Podium is designed to consume a minimum of 14 percent less energy and 30 percent less water than standard building designs.
The development incorporates environmentally-friendly building materials as well as water- and energy-efficient technologies.
This includes one of the largest vertical green walls in the central business district which spans over 2,000 sqm, a rainwater harvesting system, a drip irrigation system to water plants as well as a green roof to reduce the cooling energy load.
Developed in phases, phase one of the SM-KL Project in the Ortigas CBD comprises The Podium retail mall and an office tower which houses the operations of BDO.
Phase two development includes an extension of the five-storey The Podium retail mall as well as The Podium West Tower, which offers a net leasable area of more than 89,000 sqm of prime office space.
The Metro Manila office sector remains robust with net absorption for the first six months of 2018 already outpacing the net absorption in 2017.