042607: TriNoma offers QC both Glorietta, Greenbelt

By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes

Reporter

AYALA Land, Inc. (ALI), the property development arm of the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp., will open next month its new shopping mall in Quezon City. In an interview Wednesday, ALI president Jaime Ayala said the TriNoma mall in North Triangle will cater to both the low and high-end markets. “Quezon City is a very rich market. It would have both the Glorietta and Greenbelt markets,” he told reporters. According to him, over 90 percent has already been leased out to various tenants.    The company, however, does not expect TriNoma to start contributing substantial profits this year despite its scheduled opening next month. In a previous interview, senior vice president and chief finance officer Jaime E. Ysmael said the mall will still be in a start-up mode this year; therefore, income contribution to ALI is expected to be minimal. “Probably less than  P100 million or less than P50 million even, because it’s more in the period of building up and making the entire mall operational. It’s really in 2008 that it would start contributing,” said Ysmael. Located at the cornerstone of Quezon City’s development as a robust commercial hub north of Manila, TriNoma is seen to compete head-on with the Sy group’s SM North Edsa in terms of sales and market volume. The mall has unique water features, state-of-the-art cinemas, parks and eventful zones and activity places. According to Ysmael, TriNoma alone will increase ALI’s total shopping center gross leasable area (GLA) by 26 percent. Apart from TriNoma, ALI’s growth in shopping center GLA is also locked in with two other major mall developments, namely, Greenbelt 5 and a provincial mall in Angeles City, Pampanga. Greenbelt 5 positions itself to be the Philippines’ premier fashion lifestyle center, featuring international luxury brands as well as the best of Filipino artistry and ingenuity. The mall’s first phase will open its doors to the public in the fourth quarter of 2007. Construction of ALI’s first provincial mall offering started last quarter. With direct access to North Luzon Expressway, the regional mall, which aims to become the premiere shopping center in central Luzon, would open in 2009. ALI, the largest property developer in the country, has set aside a capital expenditure budget of P16.2 billion this year to fund various residential projects; shopping centers and strategic landbank management.

 

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/04262007/headlines07.html