LISTED SM Prime Holdings on Thursday unveiled plans to build a second mall in Cebu, a 250,000-square-meter shopping paradise that will become the fourth biggest in the country when finished.

The mall will also be a self-contained community since it will be housing two hotels, a two-hectare convention center, and a cluster of high-rise residential condominiums, SM Prime president Hans Sy said.

Sy was in Cebu City to turn over a P400-million check to Mayor Tomas Osmeña, representing SM Prime’s down payment on the P2.7-billion acquisition of 30 hectares of reclaimed land from the city government.

“I assure you, we will definitely deliver not just an ordinary project, but a statement that will put ourselves in the map of the world,” Sy said, adding that the entire complex would be built in five years at a cost of P20 billion.

Osmeña said SM’s formal entry into the South Road Properties signaled the unfolding of a new chapter in the development of Cebu City. Earlier, Filinvest Land of taipan Andrew Gotianun also signed an agreement with City Hall to acquire 50 hectares out of the 295-hectare reclamation project.

With the payment streams from Filinvest and SM Prime—another P1 billion will be forthcoming from the SM Group by year-end—Cebu City is well on its way to pay off the P5-billion loan that the city government obtained from Japan to finance the ambitious reclamation project, Osmena said.

“Because of this, I am now recommending to the City Council for an ordinance that will double the prices of lots at the SRP,” he said. Ferliza C. Contratista