BACOLOD CITY — Megaworld’s plan to turn a former sugar-mill district into a modern business hub has reached a major milestone: The Upper East has secured its first business process outsourcing tenant, with Innov8 IT Solutions taking nearly 5,000 square meters of office space.
Innov8 IT Solutions Inc. officially launched operations at No. 1 Upper East Avenue on September 14, becoming the first BPO company to establish an office inside Megaworld’s 34-hectare The Upper East township in Bacolod City.
The lease gives Megaworld an important anchor tenant as the property giant expands its office footprint outside Metro Manila and increases its bet on provincial cities as the next major battleground for Philippine outsourcing growth.
But the nearly 5,000-square-meter deal may only be the beginning.
Across the street, Megaworld is preparing another office development that the company says could ultimately help generate around 10,000 jobs, particularly for Bacolod’s IT and business process outsourcing sector.
INNOV8 TAKES A MAJOR CHUNK OF MEGAWORLD’S FIRST BACOLOD OFFICE BUILDING
Innov8 provides outsourcing, information technology, BPO and workplace solutions and serves clients in markets including North America, Europe and Asia, according to InsiderPH.
Its new Bacolod operation occupies almost 5,000 square meters at No. 1 Upper East Avenue, a four-story office building with close to 11,000 square meters of office space.
That means Innov8 alone is taking up a substantial portion of Megaworld’s first major office building in the township.
Megaworld Premier Offices head Roland Tiongson described the company’s arrival as a vote of confidence in The Upper East and Bacolod’s emergence as a business destination. Philippine News Agency separately reported that the city government welcomed the expansion as another step in Bacolod’s development as an IT-business process management hub.
Bacolod investment officer Frances Mae Llamas told PNA that Innov8’s decision reflected confidence in the city’s digital ecosystem, business environment and talent base.
NO. 1 UPPER EAST AVENUE IS ALREADY NEARING FULL OCCUPANCY
The timing is particularly significant for Megaworld because No. 1 Upper East Avenue is approaching full take-up, according to the developer.
The building is also notable for being Bacolod City’s first LEED-certified office development, giving companies seeking newer, energy-efficient facilities another reason to consider the site.
Its sustainability features include LED lighting in common areas, water-saving dual-flush toilets and double-glazed windows designed to reduce heat transfer and improve energy efficiency.
The office tower sits inside The Upper East, a 34-hectare mixed-use township built on the site of the former Bacolod-Murcia Milling Company.
Megaworld describes the development as Bacolod’s new master-planned central business district, combining offices with condominiums, retail establishments, hotels and leisure facilities.
THE BIGGER BET: ANOTHER 9,000 SQM OF OFFICE SPACE
Megaworld is not stopping with its first building.
Its next Bacolod office project, No. 5 Upper East Avenue, is being prepared inside the same township and is expected to introduce almost 9,000 square meters of additional premium office space.
BusinessWorld reported in May that the four-story development was already in the final stages of preparation. Megaworld projects it could support approximately 10,000 jobs, particularly in IT and business process outsourcing.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer and Manila Bulletin separately reported the same 10,000-job projection for the project.
No. 5 Upper East Avenue is also designed with roof gardens, energy-efficient lighting, dual-flush toilets and double-glazed windows, while Megaworld plans to register the development for LEED certification.
That second building could prove crucial if Innov8’s arrival encourages more outsourcing companies to consider The Upper East.
MEGAWORLD HAS BEEN WAITING YEARS FOR THIS BPO MOMENT
The plan to establish a major outsourcing cluster in The Upper East is not new.
As far back as 2019, Megaworld said it wanted its Bacolod office towers to attract IT-BPO companies and help encourage employment outside Metro Manila.
At the time, the company floated an ambitious long-term goal of accommodating as many as 30,000 BPO workers at The Upper East through its office developments.
Innov8’s opening therefore marks an important transition: from building the physical infrastructure to filling those buildings with actual outsourcing operators.
And Megaworld has considerably more experience behind that strategy today.
The Philippine Star reported that the developer operates nearly 90 office towers with more than 1.7 million square meters of office space nationwide.
Megaworld is also expanding office capacity in Bulacan and Davao alongside Bacolod as it pursues demand outside Metro Manila.
WHY BACOLOD MATTERS IN THE PHILIPPINES’ $42-BILLION BPO INDUSTRY
Innov8’s expansion comes at a pivotal moment for Philippine outsourcing.
The national IT-business process management industry generated approximately $40.3 billion in revenue in 2025 and employed around 1.9 million workers, according to industry figures reported by The Philippine Star.
For 2026, the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines now expects revenue of roughly $42.3 billion and employment of about 1.96 million full-time workers.
Those numbers remain substantial, but the industry is also changing rapidly.
IBPAP lowered its longer-term 2028 forecasts this year as artificial intelligence, geopolitical uncertainty and changing global client requirements reshape outsourcing operations.
Instead of the earlier $59-billion target, the association now projects 2028 revenue in a range of approximately $43.3 billion to $50.5 billion, depending on industry conditions.
That makes provincial expansion even more strategically important.
Lower costs, available talent pools and modern office infrastructure can help Philippine cities compete for new forms of outsourcing and global capability center work as companies reassess where—and how—they operate.
BACOLOD HAS ONE ADVANTAGE METRO MANILA CANNOT EASILY COPY
Cost is one of the reasons secondary cities remain attractive.
A 2025 assessment published by BusinessWorld placed average Bacolod office rents at roughly P500 to P800 per square meter, compared with around P900 to P1,100 in Metro Manila.
The same report cited a pipeline of more than 20,000 college graduates annually, giving companies a substantial local talent pool while maintaining lower operating costs.
For BPO operators facing pressure to control expenses while investing more heavily in technology and higher-value workers, that combination could become increasingly important.
THE UPPER EAST IS BECOMING MORE THAN AN OFFICE PROJECT
Megaworld is simultaneously building out the rest of the township.
The Upper East includes residential towers, commercial developments and retail facilities, while a 300-room Kingsford Hotel Bacolod is also planned.
Other developments include Plaza de Masskara and The Upper East Mall, reinforcing Megaworld’s strategy of combining workplaces, residences, shopping, hospitality and leisure destinations inside a single master-planned district.
That township model is central to Megaworld’s pitch to corporate tenants: workers can live, work and access services within the same district rather than depending entirely on a standalone office park.
THE REAL TEST COMES AFTER THE FIRST TENANT
Innov8 gives Megaworld something every new business district eventually needs: proof that a company is willing to commit significant office space.
The challenge now is turning one major BPO lease into a cluster.
With No. 1 Upper East Avenue nearing full occupancy and almost 9,000 square meters of additional office space coming from No. 5 Upper East Avenue, Megaworld will need more companies to follow Innov8 if its long-promised BPO hub is to reach scale.
The infrastructure is arriving.
The first BPO tenant is finally inside.
Now the bigger question is how many outsourcing companies—and how many jobs—will follow it.
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