Market activity in data center will increase in the next three to four years in the Philippines, seen as a very good place for investment for the sector by overseas developers, according to real estate consultancy JLL.
JLL attributed this to the Philippines’ location in a transpacific route as well as the population’s data usage.
Min Aung, JLL Philippines’ director for data centers, said the country as a data center market is still young but has full of opportunities to improve the sector and bring in more investors.
Min said the Philippines must be able to address the varying requirements of data centers, foremost is to ensure projects here keep working 24/7 by improving access to networks and utilities
Min said the ideal land size is at least 10,000 square meters (sq.m.) for greenfield (built-to-suit on land) and minimum gross floor area of 6,000 sq.m. for brownfield (retrofitted in a building), preferably in an industrial zone. Data centers require a minimum 34.5KV power supply feed, and access to water supply and network service providers.
Carl Dizon, JLL Philippines’ senior analyst for capital markets, said increased data localization policies will push a case for bigger demand in the Philippines.
“Currently, we are seeing more focus on data security. Eventually, a push for data sovereignty–requiring data collected from a population to be physically stored within the borders of the country–will guarantee demand for data center space in the Philippines.”
