SM Prime Holdings, Inc., the property holding firm of tycoon Henry Sy, opens today (Nov. 27) its third mall in Cebu that will expand its network of malls to 56 across the country.
 
SM Seaside City Cebu, the company’ largest mall outside Metro Manila, is adding 430,000 square meters (sqm.) in gross floor area (GFA) to the mall developer’s total retail space in the Philippines, boosting it to a total of 7.3 million sqm., SM Prime told the stock exchange yesterday.
 
SM Seaside City Cebu is the developer’s third mall in the Queen City of the South after SM City Cebu and SM City Consolacion. It is the company’s fourth biggest mall in the country after SM Megamall in Ortigas, SM North Edsa in Quezon City and SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.
 
“We are inspired by the success of our Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, the first lifestyle city project or mixed-use development that offers retail, residences, offices, hotels and convention centers,” SM Prime President Hans T. Sy was quoted in the statement as saying.
 
“We are replicating this concept of ‘lifestyle cities’ in Cebu as we open the SM Seaside City mall. We see Metro Cebu as one of our important growth corridors in Visayas and Mindanao following our growth track in Metro Manila,” Mr. Sy added.
 

The new destination mall is a 30-hectare master planned project within the SM Seaside Complex at the South Road Properties (SRP), a prime property development on reclaimed land located a few meters from Cebu’s central business district. 
 
When completed, the complex will include residential towers, hotels, a convention and exhibition center, a school and hospital, SM Prime said in a separate statement.
 
The shopping center will open 80% of space lease-awarded, serving as the new home to flagship stores of well-known local and international brands.
 
SM Seaside City Cebu will have anchor tenants such as The SM STORE, SM Supermarket, Forever21, UNIQLO, Our Home, Ace Hardware, SM Appliance Center, Watson’s, The Body Shop, Kultura, BDO Unibank, and Chinabank.
 
SM Seaside City Cebu is the sixth mall to be opened this year. To date, SM Prime has 56 malls in the Philippines and six in China with an estimated combined GFA of 8.3 million sqm.