Published on
20 May 2013 [ manilatimes.net ]
Written by
MADELAINE B. MIRAFLOR
Following the
opening of its first high-end mall called SM Aura in Taguig, the country’s
largest mall developer, SM Prime Holdings Inc., is now looking to develop
another high-end mall, but this time in Cebu City.
Jeffrey Lim,
SM Prime executive vice president and chief financial officer, said that SM
Group is set to develop its next premium mall in Cebu City, which could also be
considered as the “Mall of Asia in the South.”
“We are
already building a shopping center there [Cebu]. It will also be a premium mall
which is almost 400,000 square meters,” Lim said.
He added the
group chose Cebu City to be the next area for expansion, because it is a
progressive and developed city.
“At the same
time, we have a big property which is half the size of the Mall of Asia. It can
be the Mall of Asia in the South,” Lim said.
In terms of
the project cost, Lim said that SM might invest as much as P5 billion because
of the size of the mall. The year 2015 is the prospective year for the mall’s
completion. All in all, the group has earmarked approximately P25 billion in
investment for Cebu City alone.
“If you look
at the total [investment], it should be P20 to 25 billion for the total
project—malls, convention center and a hotel,” he said.
In an earlier
interview with reporters, Dexter Deyto, SMX Convention Center general manager,
said that Cebu City is indeed the next location for another SMX convention
center.
In the
previous week, SM Prime opened its first high-end mall, SM Aura Premier, which
has a total gross floor area (GFA) of 234,892 square meters and will consist of
an office tower and retail space. It is located in Taguig City.
For the rest
of 2013, SM Prime is scheduled to launch SM City BF Parañaque.
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