JLL closes Smart Tower sale on behalf of PLDT

JLL (NYSE: JLL) today announced it concluded the sale of Smart Tower, Ayala Avenue, Makati City, on behalf of its client, PLDT Inc., for US$128 million.

The asset was purchased by DMC Urban Property Developers Inc, a private Philippines-based company. The sale price represents the largest commercial real estate transaction completed in the Philippines in 2020.

Under the terms of the transaction, PLDT, the Philippines largest integrated telecommunications corporation, will continue to occupy Smart Tower, which houses the corporate headquarters of its subsidiary, Smart, for the next five years via an accompanying leaseback agreement.

“Investor appetite for grade A assets in the Metro Manila area has remained high throughout an unpredictable year. The sale of the marquee Smart Tower reinforces the long-term confidence in the office market and the ambitions of corporate occupiers to reimagine their real estate holdings,” says Christophe Vicic, Country Head, Philippines, JLL. 

Smart Tower is a 37-storey office development with a gross floor area of 38,000 square meters and 244 parking slots located along Ayala Avenue, the premier business address in the Philippines.

The JLL Philippines Capital Markets team led by P. Ryan Isip, Mark Del Rosario and Pedro Picornell, with executive support from Christophe Vicic, advised PLDT on the sale. To negotiate the complex sale and leaseback arrangement, JLL provided a range of consultancy services to PLDT Inc. tailored to raise revenue, while securing occupancy at a competitive rate.

“An asset of this size and prestige is a rarity in the market. In a more telling sign of the evolving maturity of the Philippines real estate sector, we expect the sale and leaseback component of this transaction to prompt corporations to further re-evaluate asset light operating models,” says P.Ryan Isip, Senior Director and Head of Capital Markets, Philippines, JLL.

JLL has been operating in the Philippines since 1997 as a 100% wholly owned entity and currently manages about 5.3 million square meters of real estate with a workforce of over 1,300 employees. With more than two decades of local expertise working hand-in-hand with its global legacy, JLL provides to the Philippine real estate market an unparalleled synergy of services with a strong commitment to achieve real estate ambitions through future-ready approaches. For further information, visit www.jll.com.ph.