Bacolod City retains stature as key BPO hub

Bacolod City is a key destination for outsourcing operations in the country. It is among the pioneering
provincial locations that managed to entice global outsourcing companies. Bacolod City is slowly
being recognized as a major health information management (HIM) hub outside of Metro Manila. 

This is primarily attributed to the nursing and allied medical graduates that the city produces annually. But like other BPO hubs across the Philippines, Bacolod City faces the daunting task of retaining its rank in the Tholons annual survey for the most competitive global outsourcing locations. Colliers encourages local and national developers to construct office buildings suited for call centres, health information management (HIM) providers, and online English tutorial centres as these are among the major outsourcing investments that Bacolod City is projected to attract over the near to medium term. We recommend that developers allot space for traditional firms and government agencies and apportion smaller cuts as these companies and institutions typically require smaller office space. 

We also encourage occupants to open shops within townships as these master-planned communities serve as catchment areas for skilled labour pool. Moreover, employees and residents can take advantage of the integrated live-work-play lifestyle

The aggressive expansion of BPO operations in Bacolod City over the past 10 years has compelled local developers to be more aggressive in constructing office buildings. Office stock in Bacolod City grew by almost 10 times from only 11,100 sq m (119,500sq ft)in 2004 to nearly 103,000 sq m(1.1 million sq ft)by 2Q2017.

The bulk of office supply in the city is developed by local property firms while Robinsons Land contributesnearly 2,000 sq m (21,000 sq ft) of leasable area thru its Robinsons Cybergate mall while the provincial government offers about 7,200 sq m (77,500) of GLA via the Negros First Cybercentre.  Among the new buildings completed between 3Q 2016 and 2Q 2017 are MFC Building, Shiloh Building, LKC Building, Red Key Building, East II Building,and Terra Dolce. These new buildings delivered a total of 13,900 sq m(149,600sq ft)of new office space. 

They are situated along the busy streets of Lacson, Burgos, Rizal, and Galo. Of the new supply, about a quarter was occupied by government agencies such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA). The rest is taken up by non-BPO/traditional businesses such as law offices, insurance companies, and banks.

Over the next 12 to 36 months, new office space in the city will be delivered by national developers such as SM, Ayala Land, and Megaworld. We expect an additional 16,000 sq m(172,200 sq ft)of leasable office by the end of 2018with the SM City Bacolod BPO tower. In the next two to three years, Ayala will build a BPO tower in its Capitol Central Township to be called Capitol Corporate Centrewhile Megaworld will develop office buildings in its Northill and Upper East townships. The latter will be developed on a 34-hectare property that used to be the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company in the eastern side of Bacolod City. The developer is positioning both townships as Bacolod’s next major central business districts.

Source: Colliers