Biz Buzz: NEX is the Next

With little fanfare, one of the last two vacant lots along Ayala Avenue in Makati City has, in recent months, quietly hosted construction activities for the next gleaming skyscraper along the street that hosts the country’s most expensive business addresses.

We’re talking about what used to be a vacant lot between Rufino Tower and the 6788 building which hosts the Philippine office of Standard Chartered Bank.

Presently under construction on that site is a 28-story building called the NEX Tower. Now, before you scoff at its seemingly relative low height, note that this building will be taller than 6788 on its left, but slightly shorter than Rufino Tower on its right.

Once completed by the fourth quarter of 2018, NEX Tower will have 31,173 square meters of gross leasable space with a typical floor plate of 1,400 square meters. With the demand for office space from the business process outsourcing industry plateauing (as many have their own purpose-built buildings nowadays), what industry could possibly pick up the slack and maintain the demand for A-1 grade Makati office space?

Here’s where it gets interesting. Biz Buzz learned that NEX Tower is being eyed as a base of operations for many firms in one of the country’s “up and coming” industries. We’re talking about a subset of the gaming industry known as offshore (and online) gaming.

That’s right. We understand that as much as 50 percent of the building’s leasable floor area will most likely be taken up by offshore gaming firms, which operate virtual casinos locally for players overseas. We say virtual because they’re not really casinos in the conventional sense of the word, since most involve having a table dealer — usually an attractive lady dressed equally in an eye-catching manner — dealing cards in front of cameras which then project the images to bettors overseas. Believe us when we say that the setup is more elaborate than it sounds and involves a substantial investment in space and equipment.

Anyway, with that market in the bag, NEX Tower will have no problem filling up its 28 floors.

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But now, for the most important detail: Whose project is it?

Biz Buzz learned that the project — which involves an avant garde architecture akin to those of buildings designed by Toshiko Mori — is being built by a relatively unknown firm called Nex Development Group. And behind it is businessman Ricardo “Richie” Cuerva. He’s the man who’s in charge of building all the vertical developments of the Century Properties Group under Jose Antonio (but we understand he’s doing this on his own).

Incidentally, the last vacant lot along Ayala is situated just a few meters away, on the other side of 6788, and right next to the unfinished Jaka Tower that has since been acquired by Ayala Land Inc.

Of course, industry observers are keenly awaiting the plans for that vacant property and, once development works start, will mark the first time that Ayala Avenue properties will be fully occupied on either side of the pricey road that is still considered the center of Philippine business.

In any case, expect the landscape of Ayala Avenue to look different — and better — once NEX Tower is completed next year.