THE 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park, an integrated urban township of giant developer Megaworld, compliments what Iloilo City government is doing – to level up, businesswise.
It is foremost an economic driver, affirms City Tourism Officer Junel Divinagracia, pointing to, among others, the booming locators in what is poised to become the fulcrum of commerce and industry in this part of the country.
“It is the new Iloilo City,” said Divinagracia, pointing to, among others, the Iloilo Business Park’s unprecedented generation of thousands of jobs.
From eight business process outsourcing (BPO) companies alone, it is currently employing 9,189 people. These BPOs and their current local workforce are: WNS (1,405), Transcom (1,545), Startek (1,569), iQor (2,794), Nearsol (541), Conectys (93), Reed Elsevier (1,048), and KMC/HGS (194).
Another development to look forward to is the recently launched International Corporate Plaza. This imposing 19-storey edifice is set to rise in 2024 within the township’s nine-hectare Commercial and Boutique Hotel District. The tower boasts of 301 prime office units equipped with enhanced safety and state-of-the-art security features.
“The Iloilo Business Park is making Iloilo City globally competitive. It is a business park like no other,” enthuses Divinagracia.
The International Corporate Plaza’s target market are people driven to succeed in their fields like doctors who want to put up clinics, lawyers who want to set their practice, or accountants who want to open accounting firms, engineers, architects and other professionals as well as start-up companies or established businesses.
Other features include a four-level parking podium, retail spaces and an arcade area in the ground floor, a managed facility in the sixth floor which includes two boardrooms, three meeting rooms, a co-working space, an executive lounge, and a sky garden exclusive for the office unit owners. There will also be another sky garden at the tower’s rooftop to enjoy the refreshing view of the cityscape as well as a panoramic view of the Guimaras Island.
More than just a commercial building, this development is also a good investment and a once-in-a lifetime opportunity not just for Ilonggos but also for other business-minded individuals all over the country ready to venture in the Ilonggo market.
According to Divinagracia, the Iloilo Business Park in the bustling Mandurriao district is making businesses in this southern city sustainable and viable. And in support of this, the city has crafted a long-term development plan with the Iloilo Business Park in mind.
The Iloilo City government has also been doing international networking to entice more investors to set up at the Iloilo Business Park.
“It’s a unique business park. You have a world-class mall, a convention center of international standards, first-class hotels and restaurants,” notes Divinagracia.
It is home to rows of residential towers, state-of-the-art office edifices, the Festive Walk Mall, 1.1-kilometer Festive Walk Parade, two first-class hotels (Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Courtyard by Marriott), Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo Museum of Contemporary Art or ILOMOCA (the first contemporary art museum in the Visayas and Mindanao), and the rising Commercial and Boutique Hotel District.
“We hold events at the Festive Walk and its mall. It is a preferred venue for various events like the Parade of Lights during the 2019 Dinagyang Festival,” says Divinagracia.
The business park is a destination in itself, she stresses and its vibrancy makes Iloilo City a lively metropolis. The Festive Walk Parade is Western Visayas’ longest dining and retail strip. Its world-class transport hubs make it easy for travelers to book trips anywhere in Panay Island and across the country because of the park’s accessibility to the Iloilo Airport and various seaports.
The Iloilo Business Park township is also quickly emerging as the center of the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions/Events) development, being home to the Iloilo Convention Center and two respected hotel brands – with one more major hospitality label in the horizon.
The Iloilo Convention Center, with its 3,700-seat capacity main hall on the ground floor and 500-seat function rooms on the second floor, sits strategically between the Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo.
Currently, the city has around 4,700 Department of Tourism-accredited hotel rooms, and the Megaworld township is set to add more than 400 rooms in the next four years.
By 2023, Iloilo Business Park will add 405 more hotel rooms to the existing 475-room capacity of both Richmonde Hotel Iloilo and Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, with the grand unveiling of the property giant’s own Belmont Hotel Iloilo.
This is on top of boutique hotels that the township is set to host in its nine-hectare commercial district, set to rise soon./PN
You have built it, now you have to hope they will come.