Online gaming firms driving up ofc demand

The Metro Manila office market saw a surge in demand from Philippine online gaming operators (POGOs) in 2017, which compensated for the decline in take up from business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, a property consultancy firm said.

In a quarterly briefing yesterday, Colliers International Philippines senior research manager Dinbo Macaranas reported that net take-up in the Metro Manila office market exceeded the company’s projections for 2017.

“We were expecting a net take up of around 550,000 square meters but because of a very strong fourth quarter we saw net take up reach 639,000 sqm,” Macaranas said.

Macaranas attributed the better than expected take up to the growing demand from POGOs as well as traditional companies.

Colliers said the volume of transactions reached 870,000 square meters, of which about 312,000 sqm came from POGOs.

It added that POGOs accounted for 35 percent of the total transactions, higher than the nine percent contribution in 2016.

Last year, office space takeup from POGOs in Metro Manila only hit 80,000 sqm.

“The surge was also driven by the crackdown on offshore gambling entities in other countres which forced POGOs to look for viable alternative locations such as the Philippines,” Colliers said.

“This latest development puts the Philippines as a potential premiere gambling destination in Asia, strengthened by the country’s improved relations with China since the Duterte Administration took office,” it added.

Colliers also reported that the Metro Manila office market saw a rise in takeup of nonBPO firms, accounting for 40 percent of the transactions last year.