Jericho Go —MEG J. ADONIS

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) will spend P100 million until 2026 to reinvent eight of its older office buildings as the real estate developer works to attract more clients amid a challenging environment for the sector.

Jericho Go, RLC senior vice president and general manager, told reporters on Thursday that they had already finished “reimagining” the lobbies of three of their buildings, including Robinsons Summit Center in Makati City.

“Eventually, all of the old [office buildings] will be renovated. The new ones are obviously very fresh, they’re very modern,” Go said during a roundtable discussion with the media.

READ: Malls, hotels lift Robinsons Land income by 13%

Robinsons Offices currently has 33 office buildings, the lobbies of “less than half” of which are due for renovation

According to Go, RLC’s clients are now prioritizing the quality of the buildings they wish to lease a space in, especially since employers have started implementing hybrid work arrangements in the aftermath of the pandemic.

“There’s already a ‘work-from-home fatigue’ … now the question is will we give them a reason to come back [to offices]?” Go said.

“When you have an Instagrammable-looking lobby, and you have very flexible workspace, amenities and activities, then it makes it better to come back to the office,” he added.

RLC on Thursday unveiled the newly renovated lobby of the 37-story Robinsons Summit Center, one of the company’s buildings with the highest office occupancy rate at 93 percent due to its ideal position along Ayala Avenue.

Go said the company’s average office occupancy level was in the “high 80s.”

The new lobby features accented walls, new light fixtures and a clock centerpiece that displays four time zones—Manila, Dubai, New York and London—to symbolize the “global reach of Filipino talent.”

In a 10-page order dated Sept. 4, the corporate watchdog said Boracay Capital Holdings Inc. offered investment contracts to the public and promised to invest the money in stocks, investment funds or bonds.

Robinsons Summit Center houses a mix of business process outsourcing companies and traditional offices, according to Go.

Apart from enhancing the aesthetics of its office buildings, RLC is also setting its sights on improving security through biometrics-enabled turnstiles.

Go said they would spend around P5 million to P10 million per building to make this come to life and enhance it through a mobile application.

This comes amid a challenging environment for the office sector, where the vacancy rate is poised to stay at 18 percent next year as the industry struggles to fill the gaps left behind by Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).

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In RLC’s caseps88, it does not have exposure to Pogos and is thus unaffected by President Marcos’ ban on these entities. —Meg J. Adonis