MANILA, Philippines — The group of tycoon Henry Sy has scaled up its commercial and residential property businesses with the opening of its 38th local shopping mall in San Pablo, Laguna, and the ground breaking for the first tower of a P12-billion condominium project in Tagaytay.

In a press statement, shopping mall developer SM Prime Holdings Inc. announced the opening of SM City in San Pablo on Friday (October 1). The brand new mall, with a gross floor area of 56,086 square meters (sqm), is located along the Maharlika Highway in Barangay (village) San Rafael, San Pablo.

SM City San Pablo has a leasable area of 34,169 sqm, 99 percent of which has already been awarded to various tenants. The mall’s anchor tenants are SM Supermarket and SM Department Store.

SM Prime President Mr. Hans T. Sy said: “We warmly welcome all our valued customers to SM Prime’s newest mall, SM City San Pablo. This is the second SM mall in Laguna, with another one coming up later this year in Calamba.

The group’s first mall in Laguna, SM City Sta. Rosa, opened in February 2006.

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

San Pablo, in particular, was seen by SM as a progressive city that is benefiting from a modernized agricultural-industrial economy. It is home to several major industrial zones and manufacturing plants. Majority of the population belong to the middle-income bracket.

The mall has four cinemas with a combined seating capacity of about 1,400.

SM City San Pablo also provides parking slots for over 600 vehicles and a terminal for public utility vehicles.

In a separate statement, the group’s fast-growing residential developer SM Development Corp. announced its groundbreaking for the very first tower of its residential condominium project in Tagaytay City, the Wind Residences, this Saturday. This shall be one of nine towers that will comprise the Wind Residences located along Emilio Aguinaldo Highway. Another tower of Wind Residences is set to begin construction before yearend.

‘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,” SMDC vice chair and chief executive officer Henry Sy, Jr. said.

Launched in 2009, the Wind Residences falls under SMDC’s SM Residences brand. It occupies approximately 15.45 hectares of land and each of its nine towers will have 20 floors, offering a combined total of approximately 7,758 units. The total cost of the whole project is estimated at P12 billion and its first phase is projected to be fully completed by 2015. Its amenities include a clubhouse, badminton and basketball courts, swimming pools, children’s playground, and a jogging path, among others.