CEBU CITY, Jan 24 Asia Pulse – Retail giant SM Malls is planning to build one or two more shopping malls in Cebu with an investment of at least P1 billion (US.5 million) for just one mall, an official said.

‘We are bullish about Cebu,’ SM Prime Holdings president Hans T. Sy said. Sy was in Cebu last Friday to attend the inauguration of the five streets around SM City Cebu which were repaired and improved out of the taxes advanced by the mall to the Cebu City government. He also attended the unveiling of a huge billboard depicting the SM City Cebu’s expansion called ‘The Northwing’.

‘Definitely, were looking into a second and third location for a shopping centre here in Cebu. We believe that Cebu is an area where we could still expand,’ Sy said. While the company is interested in the South Road Properties (SRP), Cebu City’s south reclamation project, SM Prime is also looking at other areas, he pointed out.

‘It’s still early to say but if the numbers are right we definitely will go into putting up a shopping centre in the SRP,’ Sy said. The price of the land and the Cebu City government’s development plan would be among the criteria for choosing the SRP as a shopping centre site, he explained. ‘But were interested in the SRP,’ Sy added.

He said the additional malls would be in the 60,000 square-metre to 75,000 square-metre size which is similar to the SM Supercentres. However, Sy said, SM Prime is looking for lots ranging from five to 10 hectares to provide the new malls being planned with room for expansion. He said the P1 billion investment in the

The Northwing underscores SM Prime’s confidence in Cebu. ‘We saw the success of the existing mall and we saw the potential growth,’ Sy said. He said the first two floors would be commercial centres while the three upper levels would serve as parking areas. Upon the completion of The Northwing in the third quarter, Sy said, SM Prime plans to develop the parking area at the back of the hotel property. He said the company has to complete

The Northwing, which has three levels of parking area, so that there would be no problem about parking when the new development starts. The concept would be patterned after the Mall of Asia but it has yet to be approved by the board, Sy said. Also, SM Prime is eyeing at least two shopping centres in Mindanao, one in Davao and another in Cagayan de Oro, Sy said.

Sy said the company also sees Bohol as a potential location for an SM Supercentre but not in the immediate future as Bohol’s infrastructure is not ready yet for this type of investment. ‘It may take some time. We may go into Bohol, putting in a 35,000 square metres size shopping centre like the Supercentre,’ he added.

Sy noted that the Mall of Asia in SM BayCity has been performing beyond expectations. ‘The Mall of Asia is now doing very well. We’re 50 per cent over our projection,’ he said. The mall traffic ranges from 300,000 people on weekdays to 500,000 on weekends,

Sy said. He disclosed that the company plans to build an aquarium in the Mall of Asia, similar to that in Singapore.