CEBU CITY, Cebu (PNA) — A shrine honoring the Virgin Mary will rise at the 30-hectare SM Prime Holdings property at the South Road Properties (SRP). The shrine, which will be the first church in Cebu to be built by a private company, will be constructed ahead of a giant mall and residential buildings to rise within the SM property.

Architect Carlos Arnaiz, founder of Carlos Arnaiz Architects of Brooklyn, New York, who also designed the new Boracay International Airport, was commissioned to design the 1,000-seat Shrine of Mary, Mother of God, on a 2,200-sqm. lot in SM’s Seaside City, Cebu. SM intends to finish church construction by December 2012.