Sy-led SM Prime Holdings set to open 38th mall

Posted on 10:04 PM, September 30, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]

SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the country’s largest mall developer, will start operations at SM City San Pablo in Laguna today.

The company wants to tap the middle-income market through the new mall, and another to be opened this year in the same province.

SM City San Pablo, the 38th shopping mall of SM Prime in the country, has a gross floor area of 56,086 square meters (sq. m.), SM Prime said in a disclosure.

“This is the second SM mall in Laguna, with another one coming up later this year in Calamba,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy said in the same statement.

“Laguna is a key area for our mall expansion, with its bustling cities, relative proximity to Metro Manila, and a thriving tourism industry,” he added.

SM Prime opened its first mall in Laguna, SM City Sta. Rosa, in 2006.

SM City San Pablo has an area for lease of 34,169 sq. m., of which 99% have already been awarded to various tenants like SM Supermarket and SM Department Store; quick service restaurants Jollibee, Mang Inasal, McDonald’s, and Pizza Hut; full-service Chinese restaurant Savory; and shops like Ace Hardware, Watsons, SM Appliances, and National Book Store.

SM Prime said the new mall also has a business center, a 456-seat food court, four cinemas with a combined seating capacity of about 1,400, a parking lot for 600 vehicles, and a terminal for public utility vehicles.

San Pablo City is known for its coconut-based food products and a thriving fishing industry. Majority of Laguna province’s population belongs to the middle-income bracket benefiting from an agricultural-industrial economy and the presence of manufacturing plants.

SM Prime also said it was scheduled to open SM City Calamba and SM City Novaliches later this year.

By yearend, SM Prime is expected to have 40 malls in the Philippines, with an estimated gross floor area of 4.8 million sq. m.

In April, SM Prime opened to the public the four-level, 34,385-sq. m. SM City Tarlac, the first new SM mall to be opened this year.

Shares in the mall developer, whose consolidated net income climbed by 10% to P3.8 billion in the first half due to higher consumer spending, were unchanged at P12.62 each yesterday.

Meanwhile, the property development arm of the conglomerate will start the construction of its first residential project in Tagaytay.

In a separate disclosure, SM Development Corp. said it would break ground for the first tower of residential condominium project Wind Residences on Oct. 2.

This will be the first of nine towers in the P12-billion Wind Residences on Emilio Aguinaldo Highway.

“Another tower of Wind Residences [will] begin construction before yearend,” SM Development said.

“Scenic Tagaytay offers unrivaled natural attractions such as its cool and windy climate, and is a very popular tourist destination that is quite proximate to the metropolis,” said Henry T. Sy, Jr., vice-chairman and chief executive of SM Development.

Wind Residences, the first residential project of the company outside Metro Manila, was launched in 2009. The 15.45-hectare Wind Residences will have a total 7,758 units.

Amenities include a clubhouse, badminton and basketball courts, swimming pools, children’s playground, and a jogging path.

SM Development, which has a market value of P58.26 billion, expects to raise P11.675 billion from a stock rights offering later this month to finance land acquisition.

Shares in SM Development -- which recorded a 24% increase in profits to P1.3 billion in the first half due to the strong take-up of new projects -- shed 3.77% or P0.40 to close at P10.20 apiece yesterday. -- Neil Jerome C. Morales

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SMDC allots P12 billion for Wind Residences condo in Tagaytay

By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated October 01, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the residential development arm of the Sy family’s holding firm SM Investments Corp., is spending around P12 billion to build Wind Residences, a nine-tower, 20-story condominium building in Tagaytay City.

The project, which falls under SMDC‘s SM Residences brands, will make available a total of 7,758 units when completed in 2015. The building will rise on a 15.45-hectare property along Tagaytay City’s main thoroughfare, the Emilio Aguinaldo Highway.

The company will break ground for the first tower tomorrow while another tower is also slated for construction before yearend.

“The groundbreaking for the Wind Residences is a milestone event for SMDC, as it is the company’s first residential project outside Metro Manila. We couldn’t have chosen a better site, as scenic Tagaytay offers unrivaled natural attractions such as its cool and windy climate, and is a very popular tourist destination that is quite proximate to the metropolis. Unit owners and dwellers of the Wind Residences are expected to greatly enjoy and benefit from what Tagaytay has to offer, in addition to the project’s five-star quality, prime location, and affordable prices, for which all SMDC homes are known, said Henry Sy Jr., vice chairman and chief executive officer of SMDC.”

Among the project’s amenities include a clubhouse, badminton and basketball courts, swimming pools, children’s playground, and a jogging path, among others.

SMDC is hoping to raise around P11.7 billion from a stock rights offering scheduled this month. It is offering 1.83 billion shares to stockholders at the ratio of one rights share for every three common shares held as of Oct. 6. The shares will be sold at P6.38 each, above the earlier price range set by the company of P5.45 to P5.73 per share.

Proceeds from the offering will be used to fund the company’s aggressive landbanking activities and ongoing and future construction projects.

The offering period will run from Oct. 18 to 22 while the listing of the shares will be on Nov. 3.

This is the second rights offering conducted by the company this year, the first of which was in January when it raised nearly P5 billion through the sale of 1.37 billion common shares at P3.50 apiece.

In May, SMDC raised another P10 billion from the issuance of corporate notes, which was more than three times oversubscribed by domestic institutional investors.

SMDC is planning to acquire properties in Cebu and Davao to tap a wider clientele base, particularly overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Its affiliate, SM Land, has offered nearly P48 billion to develop a 33.1-hectare lot south of Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City into a mixed-use complex. Under the government’s joint venture rules for such Swiss challenges, SMLI will bag the contract if it can match the highest counter-offer.

As of June this year, SMDC had 13 residential projects in the market including its affordable housing brand, My Place. My Place South Triangle - the pilot project located in South Triangle on Panay Avenue in Quezon City, consists of four condominium towers, offering a total of 3,000 units with sizes ranging from 20 to 40 square meters. Slated for completion in the first half of 2013, the project is estimated to cost around P2 billion.

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Robinsons Land sets roadmap for gohotels.ph expansion

(The Philippine Star) Updated October 01, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC)’s gohotels.ph pilot site in Cybergate Plaza along EDSA has effectively responded to the needs of discerning, value-seeking travelers, a market that gohotels.ph is developing and trying to capture. The excitement of the travel industry over the new “value hotel” concept has prompted RLC to seek more locations for gohotels.ph in the coming years.

“Due to high demand for excellent accommodations, gohotels.ph is now welcoming offers from parties who are interested to franchise or sell their land,” says Liz D. Gregorio, general manager for gohotels.ph. “We are looking forward to meeting people with the entrepreneurial drive to boost our tourism industry.”

Gregorio says they have received inquiries about the gohotels franchising opportunity, an interest driven particularly by the brand’s differentiated market positioning and its promise to deliver the best quality accommodations in its class. “Consistency and maintenance of hospitality standards will be the topmost priority for each of our properties,” she adds.

Plans are underway to build more value hotels all over the Philippines, ensuring that “a place for every Juan” is available throughout the country. These developments serve as RLC’s response to the national demand for better accommodations at better prices. With its widespread expansion, gohotels.ph endeavors to make travel easier for more and more individuals.

The gohotels.ph chain aims not merely to uphold its own standards across its chain in the long run, but to also improve them as well. The hotel’s fun and friendly atmosphere will be supplemented by a campaign that is intended to add even more value to the guest experience.

The “On the GO” program will include recommendations personally made by a member of the gohotels.ph team, offering information on where guests can get good food, do their shopping, where they can entertain themselves, go sightseeing, and even where to get some exercise. “These are not just run-of-the-mill tips frequently found in tourist brochures. Rather, this unique program puts a deserved spotlight on places and activities that not everybody may know about that may help our guests enjoy their stay more,“ says Gregorio.

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Ayala-owned Alveo gets tax reprieve for its mass housing project in Makati

By Ma. Elisa P. Osorio (The Philippine Star) Updated October 01, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Ayala-owned Alveo Land Corp. has received tax incentives from the government for a their P817- million mass housing project in Bel-Air, Makati.

The Board of Investments (BOI) has registered Alveo’s project as a non pioneer mass housing project under the 2010 Investments Priorities Plan.

The low cost mass housing project will be called The Lerato Tower I. The condominium units will be priced at P3 million each. The project will accommodate 420 low cost/economic housing units.

The housing units will be composed mainly of studio type unit with floor area measuring 31 square meters. Each unit will have one toilet and bath already tiled, living room, dining area, tiled kitchen counter with stainless kitchen sink.

The project involves a total investment of P817 million and has a manpower requirement of 430 employees. The investment covers land cost, pre-operating expenses, building construction, capital equipment and working capital.

The project is expected to start commercial operations in November. Pursuant to the general and specific guidelines of the 2010 IPP, the application qualifies for registration as new project on a non-pioneer status with a a three-year income tax holiday.

This is the firm’s second project applied for BOI registration. It has one registered mass housing project under Celadon Park Tower Two located in Felix Huertas St. Manila.

Last April, Ayala Land Corp. announced it will be spending P3 billion for its new development The Lerato in Makati Central Business District (MCBD) North.

In an interview at the launch of The Lerato yesterday, Alveo Land president Dante M. Abando said that they have earmarked P3 billion for the three tower residential development and retail area of The Lerato.

During their pre-selling last April 15, Abando reported that they have sold 115 of the 540 residential units of the first tower. This amounted to P500 million in sales and is a quarter of the entire inventory of the first tower. The first tower is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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