Tuesday, December 01, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ Business World Online ]
THE COUNTRY’S largest mall operator will continue to develop big shopping centers even if others have already ventured into developing "pocket-sized" retail outlets.
"We want to focus on building shopping centers. We have no plan to venture into smaller-type malls," SM Prime Holdings, Inc. President Hans T. Sy said in an interview.
Ayala Land, Inc. has already disclosed plans to develop and manage small-format retail facilities known as "neighborhood centers," which will have a maximum 10,000 square meters (sq. m.) of gross leasable area.
Mr. Sy said the smallest development to be undertaken by SM Prime will be 55,000 sq. m., as big as the latest SM outlet, SM City Rosario in Cavite.
Mr. Sy said the company still has 14 huge properties all over the country and has been continuously acquiring land.
SM Prime spends about P3 billion a year for "landbanking," he said.
SM Prime currently dominates the mall sector with 36 malls nationwide, and is making headway in overseas expansion with four malls in China.
"They may say [the market] is already saturated but I say there is a lot of opportunity especially in the provincial areas. I am talking about places like the General Santos and Cebu City, which is actually a big area for developers," Mr. Sy said. -- K. J. R. Liu
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