Major shopping mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is will earmark P7 billion next year for the construction of three new malls and expansion of existing ones.

In a talk with reporters on Friday, SM Prime President Hans Sy said the listed company would open malls in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental; Taytay, Rizal; and Muntinlupa City, and the expansion of the 161,562-square meter SM City Cebu and 154,183-square meter SM City Fairview.

The group is also preparing to open new malls in 2008, but Mr. Sy stopped short of identifying their locations.

SM City Cebu is a four-level complex featuring eight cinemas with a total seating capacity of 8,848, food court, fully computerized bowling center, 8,000-square meter amusement center, 2,000-square meter trade hall and a 1,629-capacity car park on a 13.8-hectare site in Cebu Port Center, Barrio Mabolo, Cebu City.

Also a four-level complex, SM City Fairview in Quezon City is on a 20-hectare site that features 12 cinemas with a total seating capacity of 7,934, food court and amusement areas occupying a total of 7,112 square meters. The shopping complex has a leasable area of 88,828 square meters for tenants and 10,374 square meters for leisure activities.

Meanwhile, the group’s largest mall — SM Mall of Asia — which is on a 60-hectare property overlooking Manila Bay in Pasay City, faces competition against the P250-million Neo Chinatown Mall, a unique commercial-cum-leisure complex being marketed as an upscale Chinese shopping center.

Bay Pacific Neo Chinatown, Inc. is the operator of the retail center which sits on a four-hectare property at the reclamation area along Macapagal Ave., which is owned by the R1 Consortium.

‘We do welcome [the competition] because it is creating critical mass. It also means more choices rather than taking it as a competitor,’ Mr. Sy said.

PACING IN CHINA

While the Sys are aggressive in expanding locally, they are taking their time in China. ‘We are conservative. After one project, we will go to the next project until we really get the hang of it. It is a little bit slow,’ Mr. Sy said.

Sources said the group will open a third mall in Chengdu province. This third mall has retail giant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Laiya, a leading supermarket operator in Thailand, as anchor tenants.

The Sy family’s malls and other properties in China are privately held but carry the ‘SM’ trademark.

The Sys entered the booming China market with a 120,000-square meter mall in Xiamen in 2003 and opened a second mall which covers 165,000 square meters to 175,000 square meters in Jin Jiang province.