Manila is among the most affordable cities in terms of premium office locations.
The fifth edition of JLL’s Premium Office Rent Tracker showed Manila’s rental rates of $581 per square meter (sq.m.) per year places the city at 66th in terms of tents out of the 86 cities covered by the report.
That is just half the rate of $1,259 per sq.m. charged in Singapore, the most expensive city in Southeast Asia and 14th worldwide.
The report highlights Manila as an attractive option for businesses looking for affordable but well-situated office locations.
Submarkets Makati City and Taguig City lead in Metro Manila in terms of average annual rentals at $431 per sq.m. and $463 per sq.m., respectively. These cities enjoy a low vacancy rate of 6.2 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively, due to the solid office demand for both business hubs coming from information technology-business process management and corporate occupiers.
“ The presence of quality grade stock, strategic location, infrastructure accessibility, and talent agglomeration serve as key advantages of these districts,” the report said.
Lizanne Tan, JLL Philippines’ head of commercial leasing, said, Manila continues to enjoy stable demand and growth in the office sector.
“We think this positive trend will continue to flourish in the coming years as we see more investment in infrastructure and quality office space,” Tan said.
The rents in the other ranked Southeast Asian cities were considerably less expensive as well, including Ho Chi Minh City (38th, $829 per sq.m.), Jakarta (55th, $646 per sq.m., Bangkok (77th, $495 per sq.m.), and Kuala Lumpur (85th, $323 per sq.m.)
