January 20, 2007
Updated 19:06:40 (Mla time)
CEBU CITY -- Cebu could look forward to more investments in its retail sector as SM Prime Holdings bared plans to build one or two more shopping malls here.
"We are bullish about Cebu," SM Prime president Hans T. Sy said in an interview.
If this plan pushes through, SM Prime would be putting in at least P1 billion to build just one shopping center, Sy said.
Sy was in Cebu on Friday to attend the inauguration of the five streets around SM City Cebu, which were repaired and improved out of the taxes advanced by the mall to the Cebu City government, and the unveiling of a huge billboard depicting the mall expansion called The North Wing.
"Definitely, we're looking into a second and third location for a shopping center here in Cebu. We believe that Cebu is an area where we could still expand," Sy said.
While the company is interested in the South Road Properties (SRP), Cebu City's south reclamation project, SM Prime is also looking at other areas, he pointed out.
"It's still early (to say) but if the numbers are right we definitely will go into (putting up a shopping center in the SRP)," Sy said.
The price of the land and the Cebu City government's development plan would be among the criteria for choosing the SRP as a shopping center site, he explained. "But we're interested (in the SRP)," Sy added.
He said the additional malls would be in the 60,000-sq.m. to 75,000-sq.m. size range -- similar to the SM Supercenters.
However, he said, SM Prime is looking for lots ranging from five to ten hectares to provide the new malls being planned with room for expansion.
He said the P1-billion investment in the The North Wing underscores SM Prime's confidence in Cebu.
"We saw the success of the existing mall and we saw the potential growth," Sy said.
He said the first two floors would be commercial centers while the upper levels would serve as parking areas.
Upon the completion of The North Wing in the third quarter, Sy said SM Prime plans to develop the parking area at the back of the hotel property.
He said the company has to complete The North Wing, which has three levels of parking area, so that there would be no problem with parking when the new development starts.
The concept would be patterned after the Mall of Asia but it has yet to be approved by the board, Sy said.
SM Prime is also eyeing at least two shopping centers in Mindanao, one in Davao and another in Cagayan de Oro, Sy said.
The company also sees Bohol as a potential location for an SM Supercenter but not in the immediate future, he added.
According to Sy, Bohol's infrastructure is not ready yet for this type of investment. "It may take some time. We may go into Bohol, putting in a 35,000 sq.m. size shopping center like the Supercenter," he added.
Sy noted that the Mall of Asia in SM BayCity has been performing beyond expectations.
"The Mall of Asia is now doing very well. We're 50 percent over our projection," he said.
The mall traffic ranges from 300,000 people on weekdays to 500,000 on weekends, Sy said. He disclosed that the company plans to build an aquarium, similar to that in Singapore.
The ongoing construction projects at the 60-hectare SM BayCity include the 5,000-sq.m. Discovery Center, a science museum costing P300 million, a 100,000-sq.m. call center building, and a 50,000-sq.m. international convention center.
http://services.inquirer.net/express/07/01/21/html_output/xmlhtml/20070120-44591-xml.html
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