SM to put up third mall in China

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SM to put up third mall in China
Posted: 3:04 AM Jan. 07, 2006
Elizabeth L. Sanchez
Inquirer

MALL tycoon Henry Sy is set to build his third mall in Chengdu province in China this year, industry sources said. The mall will have an area of 180,000-200,000 square meters and is expected to be completed in 2007, the sources said.

The SM group is looking at US-based retailing giant Wal-Mart, which operates SM's two malls in China, to run the new one, they said.

Sy opened his first mall in China in 2003, with a floor area of 120,000 square meters, on Crossroad West in Xiamen. He opened the second late last year in Jin Jiang City in Fujian province, with an area of 165,000 square meters.

Sy's daughter and Teresita Sy earlier said the SM group would continue to study whether it would fold in its private ventures in China into its publicly listed SM Prime Holdings Corp. "We have to study it, whether we should, because the China project is very new," she said. "We have to make sure it would bring in income before we fold it in."

SM Prime is the Philippines' largest mall operator with 21 malls totaling 2.7 million square meters.

In the Manila Bay reclamation area, SM Prime will open in late February the Mall of Asia, its most ambitious project to date. The mall sits on a 60-hectare property and has a floor area of 381,000 square meters in four buildings linked by elevated walkways.

The main mall in the complex will include shopping and dining establishments, a food court, and the country's first Olympic-size ice-skating rink. The north parking building will house an SM Department Store and half of the 5,000-car parking space. The south parking building will have an SM Hypermarket and dining areas.

A new attraction will be the Entertainment Plaza, which will have bowling and billiards facilities, 10 theaters, including a Director's Club and the country's first Imax theater. With INQ7.net

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