Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the country's top developer of premium office spaces, continues to offer the best value for locators from business process outsourcing industry through it's recently-completed Cybergate Center Tower 3.

At Robinsons Cybergate Center Tower 3, tenants will get to enjoy various tax and fiscal incentives since it is located within Robinsons Cyber Park, a PEZA-certified IT Park.

This building has been designed by seasoned professionals to offer locators with large floor plate of about 2,100 sq.m. of contiguous space, as well as widely spaced column ideal for BPO/call center type offices to give them more flexibility in organizing their work areas.

High-speed telecommunication and broadband data lines are made available through major telecommunications providers. The design also provides for interfloor communication trunking and telecom risers for additional trunking installation.

Cybergate Center Tower 3 has synchronized generator sets and a redundant generator to ensure 100 percent back-up for an uninterrupted power supply, as well as an automatic sprinkler system for protection against fire. The building has 11 high-speed elevator units.

It uses a Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) Air-conditioning System, a new generation technology, which allows users to control its operation to generate savings on electrical consumption, especially after standard office hours. This system is ideal for offices operating flexible hours.

Cybergate Center Tower 3 is located within the Robinsons Pioneer Cybergate Complex, which has its own transport terminals and is adjacent to the MRT station. This convenience is seen to make it easier to hire skilled workers since accessibility is one of the prime considerations of BPO recruits.

Aside from restaurants and convenience store integrated into the building, Cybergate Center Tower 3 shares the complex with Forum Robinsons, a specialty mall where employees get to relax, shop, dine and be entertained after a day’s work and several Robinsons-built residential towers.

Meanwhile, RLC recently “top-off” Cybergate Plaza, the fourth office building within the same complex in response to the continued uptake of traditional and BPO office spaces. This office building will have a total of six leasable office floors with ample parking and is expected to be ready to handover this year.

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the real estate development arm of Gokongwei flagship firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., is setting aside around P8 billion this year to bankroll the construction of new shopping malls, office buildings, residential units and a chain of budget hotels.

RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said the company intends to open five new malls this year which will make available an additional 71,000 square meters of gross leasable space.

At the start of its fiscal year ending September 2009, RLC had completed and opened Robinsons-Pulilan and Tagaytay as well as the first phase of the redevelopment of its Luisita mall.

Other malls targeted for opening this year are in Davao, Tacloban and Gen. Santos.

RLC’s shopping mall network will increase to 26 by the end of September this year from 21 the previous year.

“The company’s business plan for the commercial centers division over the next five years, subject to market conditions, is to sustain its growth momentum via development of new shopping malls and expansion of existing ones,” Go said.

Aside from this, RLC will continue to take advantage of the resilient demand for office space by allotting leasable area for BPOs (business process outsourcing) as needed in its malls. It started construction of Robinsons Cybergate Plaza, which will have 20,000 square meters of net leasable office area.

“While demand is still strong, we expect rental rates to be under pressure this year with the increase in office space supply. However, we are confident that our office buildings will maintain high occupancy because of their better locations, geographic spread, and the fact that they are anchored in our mixed-use developments,” Go said.

RLC is completing the 108-room Summit Ridge Hotel Complex in Tagaytay, which is slated to open this June.

To cater to a wider section of potential clients, RLC launched a new concept in the hospitality business with its budget Go Hotels, offering affordable and value-for money accomodation. These hotels will rise in RLC’s malls and 24-hour convenience stores.

The first site of the Go Hotel is in Robinsons Pioneer Cybergate complex, which is expected to be completed in the next fiscal year.

As for its housing projects, RLC has a pipeline of over 30 residential buildings planned for the mid term, five of which will be launched this year. Among these include the second residential tower of Sonata Private Residences, the second tower of additional buildings in Woodsville, and the first tower of the recently-acquired Magnolia property.

Go said the company aims to launch three new housing projects annually.

“Our business model remains the same-searching for joint venture partners in provincial areas that will allow us to expand into new localities with less upfront capital tied up to land acquisition. The lower price points of our products in this division should give us more traction in a property downturn,” Go said.

At the same time, RLC said it remains to be on the look out for opportunities to pick up good value assets that might become available in the midst of these challenging times.

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of Gokongwei investment holding firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., said its net earnings rose 29 percent in its fiscal year ending September 2008 to P3.15 billion on the back of solid growth in operating lease revenues and sales.

In a financial report filed with securities regulators, RLC said consolidated revenues grew 26 percent to P11.18 billion from only P8.89 billion as sales from lease operations improved 35 percent.

RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said the financial results were better than expected amid tough challenges in the real estate industry.

He said the company will continue to pursue projects in industry segments that have promising potentials to further boost its cash flow.

“We will continue to produce projects that cater to the demands of the consumer market. Our solid balance sheet and stable recurring income will allow us to pursue more projects in the coming year,” Go said.

RLC’s commercial centers division contributed P3.7 billion or 33 percent while its high-rise division accounted for 50.44 percent or P5.64 billion of the company’s gross revenues.

As of Sept. 30 last year, RLC operated 21 shopping malls, comprising six malls in Metro Manila and 15 malls in other urban areas throughout the Philippines, and had another 13 projects that are in the planning and development stage scheduled for completion in the next two to three years.

Among the new malls in the pipeline are Robinsons Dumaguete, Tacloban, Gen. Santos, Cebu and San Niccolas in Ilocos.

The strong rental sales, however, were offset by flat revenue growth in RLC’s hotel operations and a drop in interest income.

The 2008 net income includes an extraordinary adjustment to reduce provision for deferred income tax amounting to about P300 million. The adjustment was necessitated by the reduction of the legislated corporate income tax rate starting January 2009 from 35 percent to 30 percent.

The residential buildings division registered revenues of P4.76 billion, up 69 percent from the previous level mainly due to higher realized sales of condominium units in East of Galleria in Ortigas, Gateway Garden Ridge and Gateway Garden Heights in Pioneer, Mandaluyong and Otis 888 Residences in Manila.

The office buildings division, on the other hand, reported a 24-percent growth in revenues to P883 million due to stable recurring lease income from six of RLC’s office buildings, which have become the choice corporate addresses of reputable multinational companies as well as BPO (business process outsourcing) firms.