PHILAM LIFE BUILDS TOWER IN CEBU
P2-billion structure in Cebu Business Park scheduled to be completed in March 2016
THE Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company (Philam Life) will add to Cebu 24,000 square meters of leasable spaces for retail, commercial and business process outsourcing upon the completion of its 16-storey corporate tower in Cebu Business Park.
The building will be completed in March 2016, according to company officials who were in Cebu yesterday for the foundation laying ceremony of the P2billion tower.
Philam Life chief executive officer Bobby Madrid said 10 percent of the space will be used for the company’s operations while the remaining will be leased out. They will start looking for tenants by the third quarter of this year, he said.
“With this investment, we hope to provide our customers a modern office environment conducive to efficiency and productivity and also create office spaces to help local business to flourish,” Madrid said in a statement.
The Philam Life tower is the second major investment of the 68-year old insurance firm, after the establishment of the Philam Cebu building in Jones Avenue in 1955, said its chief investment officer Arleen Guevarra.
Madrid said the 60-year old building in Cebu City will be retained and will be its sales office, which has 600 agents.
He said the new building will be the first “prime building” in Cebu. Prime buildings are those with the highest rating given by top real estate consultants to buildings.
The building blueprints were pre-certified Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver, but the company is aiming for a Gold certification.
Leed is a global recognition in energy and environmental initiatives that awards “best-in-class” building design strategies and practices. A gold mark indicates that a structure scored highly in a certification process that rates the buildings’ impact on ecosystems and utility resources, smarter use of water, and better energy performance.
In the fourth quarter of this year, Philam Life is eyeing to hold the topping off for the structure.
Aside from being environment-friendly, the new corporate center sets benchmarks in safety standards by adhering to strict earthquake and typhoon resistance building codes, Philam Life said.
The building is designed to withstand winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour. Philam’s tallest tower is a 44-storey building in Makati City.
The insurance firm is the second leading insurance company in the country today after Sun Life Financial. It is a member of the AIA Group Limited, the largest independent publicly-listed pan-Asian life insurance group.