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| Polo would be lucky to move back to United Centre, which is at the heart of HK's business district |
Filipino workers will not have to go to a separate building
in another district for their labor-related transactions, when the Philippine
Overseas Labor Office will have moved back to United Centre in Admiralty in the
near future.
Sources say that Polo is planning to move back to United
Centre, occupying a whole floor in the office tower that houses the Consulate, hopefully
within the year.
They say that Polo has already chosen one particularly floor
several levels above the PCG, which owns its premises on the 14th
floor of the building, but a deal has yet to be firmed up with the
landlord.
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The proposed move would likely be welcomed by overseas
Filipino workers, who will be able to process their employment documents in one
building, just as they did in the past when Polo had its own rent-free space in
the Consulate.
Right now, they need to shuttle between the Consulate premises
in Admiralty and the Polo office at the YF Life Tower in Wanchai, when
transacting business.
This was not the case before December 2015, when Polo
occupied the entire right wing of the Consulate premises.
But with the rapid increase in the number of Filipino
domestic workers coming to Hong Kong , this
set-up often resulted to an overflow crowd in the lift lobby, especially during
peak times, for the issuance of the overseas employment certificate.
Former Labor Attache Bernardino Julve found a way out of
this by moving the OEC issuance to the spacious Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town
But in 2015, just months before his recall to Manila
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Polo stayed there for just two years, because management
reportedly demanded a hefty increase to the rental price, which at that time,
was already around $500,000.
Coupled with the strict, even hostile, handling of the
Sunday crowd of people going up to Polo by the building’s security guards,
Labatt Jalilo dela Torre decided it was time to move again. He settled on YF
Life Tower (formerly Mass
Mutual Tower
Polo’s two-year lease at YF Life should have expired last year,
but it has apparently managed to extend the tenancy for another year.
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The source said the return to United Centre could mean
savings for Polo, which is currently sharing the $500,000 monthly rent for its
offices on the 16th and 18th floors of YF Life with the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Besides, the landlord at YF Life Tower reportedly wants to
raise the rent under a new lease contract and is asking for a three-month rental
deposit.
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| YF Life Tower where Polo currently has its offices, is several blocks away from United Centre |
“The United Centre location will be better than this one
because all our offices will be on just one floor,” the source said.
Needless to say, the move will also be convenient for the
more than 200,000 OFWs who will be transacting business at the Consulate and
Polo/OWWA offices.
Unlike YF Life where OFWs are forced to line up outside the
building even in harsh weather, United Centre is able to accommodate a big
number of people queuing up to its office towers because of its spacious lobby.
But there is just one catch. The current rental for office
space in United Centre, which is considered grade A given its proximity to key
places like the Central Government Offices, is at least $42 psf, even with the
downturn due to the pandemic.
An entire floor in the building measures more than 20,000
square feet, meaning the rent would come up to at least $840,000 a month. If
Polo clinches a deal less than this current market rate, then it is indeed,
well-advised to make the move.
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