Davao-based property developer Damosa Land, Inc (DLI) and leading flexible workspace provider International Workplace Group (IWG) are eyeing to open later this year Regus Felcris Centrale and HQ Topaz, as newest franchise centers in Mindanao.
The Regus Felcris Centrale, which is situated in the heart of Davao City, will provide local and multinational companies an unparalleled network of office, co-working, and meeting spaces.
Now a Regus franchise center, Felcris Centrale benefits its tenants with a global network of workspaces that enable people to work where, when, and how they want.
Meanwhile, IWG’s entry into Davao City in 2016 was also through a partnership with DLI, which resulted in the opening of Regus Damosa Topaz Tower, the first flexible work center in Mindanao and one of IWG’s most successful centers in the Philippines.
The said center is being re-branded as HQ Topaz, marking it as the first-ever HQ center and one of the largest IWG centers in the Philippines. HQ Topaz offers practical workspace amenities that prove beneficial to work productivity.
The opening of two IWG franchise centers under DLI has come alongside the growth in flexible working in the suburbs and local regions.
“The office sector has been one of our first projects as a real estate company and office leasing business is one of our most important assets in our portfolio. When we had the chance to work with IWG way back in 2016 and we had the opportunity to set up the first and the largest premium flexible workspace in the city. We were so happy with the progress that after only about a year and a half, we started reaching 90 percent occupancy right before the pandemic,” said Ricardo “Cary”
Lagdameo, president of DLI, in an exclusive briefing.
Lagdameo said that success prompted him and Wittig to expand the business and became the franchise partners of IWG in Mindanao.
“We signed the agreement in January 2020 and the center that we seated today we are here at Felcris Centrale Building, another iconic building in southern part of Davao. This is our first franchise center. We do have plans to build more of this over the next few years,” he said.
Lars Wittig, country manager Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, IWG, said, the future of work is in the hybrid model. He said with the pandemic or not, the demand for flexible workspaces in the provinces has been growing tremendously and that employees have a clear preference for flexible working with its work-life balance benefits and both local and multinational companies recognize the role it plays in securing and retaining the best talent.
“We are honored to share with DLI our expertise in the flexible working industry as they now operate their own Regus and HQ centers in Davao. While the community begins to recover, we can see that these flexible workspaces are going to help the local economy create new jobs, stimulate business growth in the region, and improve productivity for enterprises,” Wittig said.
As an IWG franchise partner, DLI’s workspaces will become part of the globally recognized IWG brand and benefit from its 30 years of experience as an industry leader. IWG brands, which include Regus, SPACES, and HQ, serve the workspace needs of millions of members and users around the world.
“We believe that flexible workspaces will start to make a bigger percentage of our total portfolio,” Lagdameo said.
Meanwhile, the 15-story iconic Damosa Diamond Tower is also expected to be completed in June 2021 and DLI will soon announce the launch of Regus Diamond Tower in early next year, marking the third IWG center in Davao City.
Under the franchise partnership agreement, DLI will be granted the exclusivity to develop and operate eight IWG centers across Mindanao in the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and General Santos.
“We are hopeful that the brighter prospects in the overall property industry in the Philippines will continue to fuel the growth in more investment opportunities in Mindanao. With the government’s initiatives for vaccination rollout and its support for investors who are expanding to the provinces, we are confident that we are ready to welcome local entrepreneurs and multinational companies in our Regus Felcris Centrale and HQ Topaz,” Lagdameo said.
Lagdameo added that DLI’s solid partnership with IWG allows the company to bring the world-class benefits of flexible working to the businesses and professionals in Mindanao. Our strong partnership has been built on shared values and drives to succeed, and this will further remain especially with the guidance of IWG’s global brand equity and resilient business model.
The briefing was participated by the heads and members of Chambers of Commerce such as AMCHAM, JAPCHAM, ECCP, NORDCHAM, and local Davao City Chamber, heads of Davao City Investment Promotion.
