Alabang or Makati for a 300-Workstation Team, Weighed on Commute, Cost and Hiring Pool

Choosing between Alabang (Muntinlupa) and Makati CBD for a 300-workstation team depends on three things the market reports cannot answer for you: where your staff live, what your own quotes say, and whether you need PEZA. What the reports do show is a clear gap in vacancy and average rent. This page sets out the verified data, a cost model with its inputs visible, and a way to test commute and hiring pool with your own numbers.

A workstation is one seat with a desk, chair and computer setup. CUSA means common use service area charges, which landlords bill on top of rent.

What the market data says

Reading these together: Makati has been winning deals on rent, and LPC attributes that to softer rents and flexible terms. Alabang has the higher vacancy of the two, which usually gives a tenant more room to negotiate, though it depends on the building and floor. Averages are not quotes, so ask each landlord and operator for a current written offer.

How much space 300 seats need

At 5 sqm per seat, a planning assumption and not a sourced standard, 300 seats need 1,500 sqm (300 x 5). At 3.6 sqm per seat, the density of some operator sites on the FlySpaces Cebu list, they need 1,080 sqm (300 x 3.6). Ask your space planner for your figure.

A cost model using only sourced rents

Base rent difference over 36 months = (Makati rent − Alabang rent) x area x 36.

This compares only the district averages for base rent. It leaves out CUSA, utilities, fit-out, furniture, VAT, restoration and any rent-free period, all of which depend on the building. Two buildings in the same district can differ by more than the gap between districts, so use these figures as context and rerun the model with your quotes. Our guide to comparing BGC quotes shows how to convert a per-sqm quote and a per-seat quote into one monthly cost per seat.

We do not publish serviced office seat rates for either district, because we have no dated, operator-confirmed figures. Ask each operator for a written quote.

Commute

Staff commute shapes retention more than most lease terms, and you can measure it yourself:

1. List the home locations of your current staff, or of your last year's applicants, by city or barangay.
2. For each shortlisted building, estimate the door-to-door commute at your shift start and end times, by the modes your staff use.
3. Count the share of staff within the commute you consider acceptable, for example 60 minutes. Share within limit = staff within limit / total staff.
4. Compare the two districts on that share, not on a general reputation.

Check the transport on each side. Wikipedia lists South Station among the transport facilities in Filinvest City, so ask which routes serve your building. In Makati, ask about the nearest rail and bus links to your staff's areas. We have no sourced commute-time data for either district, and we do not make claims about highways or bottlenecks here.

Hiring pool

We do not publish attrition or salary comparisons, because we have no sourced figures. To compare the pools:

1. Ask your recruiter or your applicant tracking system where applicants live.
2. Ask recruiters how many competing employers of your type hire within the same commute radius, and what they pay.
3. Check the roles. Some roles, such as legal or senior finance, draw on a wider area than a high-volume support team.

PEZA

If you are IT-BPM or shared services and registering with PEZA, the building must be PEZA-accredited. Filinvest and Regus describe Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City as a PEZA-registered IT zone, and KMC describes One Griffinstone as PEZA-accredited. Makati has PEZA-accredited towers too, according to the PEZA entry on Wikipedia. Verify each building and floor with PEZA. Also check the current remote work limit before you fix your seat count, as FIRB Resolution No. 005-2026 approved up to 90% for registered enterprises during the 2026 energy emergency, and firms exceeding their agency's limit may face penalties (Cebu Daily News, 2026).

Operators with published space in Alabang

For a 300-seat team, the KMC sites are the ones with published capacity at that size. We have not verified published capacity for Makati operators on this page, so ask FlySpaces for a current list of 300-seat options in Makati.

How to decide

Get a shortlist

Tell FlySpaces your headcount, whether you need PEZA, and where your staff live, and the team replies with a shortlist that fits. Inquire here