Net office take-up in Ortigas Center surged more than fivefold in the second quarter, driven by continued leasing activity from outsourcing and technology companies, according to property consultancy Savills Philippines. Net take-up measures space newly occupied minus space vacated during the period, making it a key indicator of whether a district's office demand is genuinely expanding.

"The district continues to attract outsourcing and tech companies, benefiting from its central location that offers convenient access to talent and infrastructure across the metro," Savills said in its second-quarter office market report.

Net office take-up in Ortigas Center climbed to roughly 14,800 square meters (sq.m.) in the April-to-June period, up from about 2,800 sq.m. in the first quarter. That placed the district on par with Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City during the quarter, while the Makati central business district (CBD) and Quezon City (QC) recorded net take-up of about 9,500 sq.m. and 8,800 sq.m., respectively.

"Among the CBDs, Ortigas Center and BGC followed at roughly 14,800 sq.m. apiece, with Ortigas rebounding sharply from a weak first-quarter (1Q2026), while Makati CBD and Quezon City contributed a further 9,500 sq.m. and 8,800 sq.m. respectively," Savills said.

Average office rent in Ortigas Center stood at P690.90 per sq.m. per month in the second quarter, remaining below rates in BGC and Makati CBD. The roughly P400-per-sq.m. gap between Ortigas Center and BGC rents underscores the district's positioning as a cost-competitive alternative within Metro Manila's central business districts.

BGC remained the most expensive office district tracked by Savills, with average rents rising to P1,094.30 per sq.m. per month and its vacancy rate falling to 7.4% during the quarter. Average rents in Makati CBD stood at P991.60 per sq.m. per month.

Savills noted that the availability of large contiguous spaces in top-tier BGC buildings has become increasingly limited, contributing to upward pressure on rents in that district.

The nearby Greater Ortigas submarket recorded an average rental rate of P666.70 per sq.m. per month and a vacancy rate of 11.7%.

Major transactions in the broader Ortigas area during the quarter included information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) leases covering about 2,300 sq.m. at SM Prime Holdings, Inc.'s Mega Tower and 2,100 sq.m. at Robinsons Land Corp.'s Robinsons Cybergate Center 3, according to Savills. The IT-BPM sector has long been a anchor of Philippine office demand, and the named landlords — SM Prime and Robinsons Land — are among the country's largest listed property developers.

Janlo de los Reyes, head of research and advisory at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Philippines, said business process outsourcing (BPO) companies and global capability centers (GCCs) are expected to keep supporting Metro Manila office demand.

"Moving forward, we think that the BPOs and GCCs will continue to drive demand in the next couple of years, as we still see a lot of movement from interest from BPOs and GCCs to open shop and also expand their footprints in Metro Manila," Mr. De los Reyes said during JLL's second-quarter market briefing in July.

Santos Knight Frank Senior Director Morgan McGilvray said Makati CBD and BGC remain Metro Manila's top-tier office districts, while other submarkets offer more cost-competitive options for occupiers.

"Makati, Taguig (BGC), these are the tier one districts nowadays. The other four sub-districts are really tier two," he said.

"And the way we know that is because we can look at the vacancy rates and we can look at the asking rental rates. And they are, we're talking Ortigas, we're talking the Bay Area, QC, [and Alabang]. These are cost competitive districts in our market nowadays."

Mr. McGilvray said the expansion of Metro Manila's office stock over the past decade has given tenants more options when choosing locations based on cost and employee accessibility.

"Firms who either want to go to the far north or the far south maybe for the sake of their employee commute, or if they're just not looking to spend kind of Makati CBD or BGC rental rates, that's the kind of firms that are now going to the other districts in the market," he said.

Savills said Ortigas Center landlords are expected to keep rents competitive as additional office supply enters the district.

"The average rental rate in the district stands at P690.90 per sq.m. per month. Pricing remains competitive as the district heads into a sizeable third-quarter (3Q2026) supply addition, and landlords are expected to keep prioritizing occupancy over rate escalation," it said.

Tenants are also seeking ways to reduce the upfront cost of fitting out office space, including asking landlords to finance or undertake fit-out work, according to Mr. McGilvray.

"Tenants are looking for other ways to help finance that fit-out. They can ask the landlord of the building, the developer, to help with some kind of a finance fit-out or to build the fit-out for the tenant and then turn it over to them," he said.

— Juliana Chloe A. Gonzales