MANILA, Philippines — Eton Properties Philippines Inc. is aggressively expanding its BPO office portfolio by putting up four more buildings to more than double its gross leasable area (GLA) to 170,000 square meters from the existing 70,000 sqm.

In an interview, Eton president Danilo Ignacio said they already have five BPO buildings in Eton Cyberpod Corinthian along Ortigas Avenue and in Eton Centris in Quezon City.

Eton Cyberpod currently houses BPO firms Startek and Northgate Arinso while Centris tenants include Wipro Technologies, Genpact Services LLC, Unisys Philippines Limited, Integrim BPO Solutions and Pascual Laboratories among others.

He announced earlier that they are building one more BPO tower in Eton Centris while planning a fourth one to meet strong demand for space in the area. Both will have a GLA of 34,000 each and should be available for new tenants within next year.

Eton Centris’ masterplan actually has allotted enough space for seven BPO buildings, said Ignacio who noted that BPOs now prefer to have offices outside of the established business centers of Makati and Ortigas and putting a premium on the availability of public transportation, rental rate and the labor pool in the area.

He added that, “if the market for office space continues to be strong, we are considering some adjustments in the Eton Centris masterplan to accommodate future demand for office space. There is a marked increase in demand for office space in the northern part of Metro Manila, given the outsourcing industry’s thrust to tap the manpower pool in the area.”

Eton may also consider putting up a BPO building instead of another residential condominium in its one hectare Belton Place in Makati. The BPO building will have a GLA of 26,000 sqm. and can be completed by 2013.

Ignacio said they already have two condo projects in Belton Place which has space for one more development.

He added that Eton may also put up one BPO office building in Eton City in Sta. Rosa, Laguna where they have already launched residential projects.

Ignacio said there is currently a shortage of office space since property firms had stopped building new office towers in 2008 even though demand did not slow down and continues to be at 300,000 sqm a year.

Office space is currently the company’s strongest contributor of recurring income as it continues to develop its property portfolio.