SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest mall developer and operator, opens today, Oct. 22, SM City Novaliches, its 40th shopping mall in the Philippines.

In a statement to the local stock exchange, SM Prime said the new mall will have a gross floor area of 60,334 square meters (sq m). It is located on Quirino Highway, barangay San Bartolome, Novaliches, Quezon City. It is SM Prime’s third mall in the city, after SM City Fairview and SM City North Edsa.

The new mall is estimated to have provided up to 4,000 new jobs, including those of the mall’s tenants and suppliers.

‘We warmly welcome all our valued customers to our newest and 40th mall, SM City Novaliches.

The area of Quezon City continues to be a key expansion area for SM malls.

This reinforces our confidence in the prospects of Quezon City given its vibrant population and burgeoning business sector,’ Hans T. Sy, SM Prime president, said in a statement.

SM City Novaliches has a leasable area of 42,721 sqm, 85 percent of which has already been awarded to various tenants.

The mall’s anchor tenants are SM Supermarket, SM Department Store, SM Appliance Center, Ace Hardware, BDO and Watsons. Other tenants include quick service restaurants Jollibee, KFC, McDonald’s, Mang Inasal, Shakey’s and Pizza Hut; ‘fashion and apparel retailers Bench, Penshoppe, Human and Folded N Hung; and health and beauty salons Let’s Face It, Davids, Ricky Reyes and GQ Barber.

The amenities of SM City Novaliches include a food court with a seating capacity of over 500, four cinemas, parking slots for over 1,200 vehicles, and a terminal for public-utility vehicles.

With the opening of SM City Novaliches, SM Prime malls all over the country now have a combined GFA of 4.8 million sqm.

It will be the last SM mall to be opened in the Philippines for 2010. Before the year ends, SM Prime is scheduled to open its fourth SM mall in mainland China, which will be located in the city of Suzhou.