SM sets opening of largest mall to Q1 next year

Shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. has moved the opening of its biggest shopping mall to the first quarter next year to maximize the number of tenants.

The Mall of Asia was initially slated to open by the end of this year.

Although the anchor tenants, SM Department store and SM Hypermarket are ready to welcome their first customers by December 2005, SM Prime management decided to move the opening to the first quarter of 2006 to allow the maximum number of tenants to open together with the anchors. At present, total lease take-up is 75 percent.

SM Prime said the high incidence of rain in the last two months also delayed the turnover of mall space to tenants. "These events have led the company to a decision to postpone the mall’s formal opening to the first quarter of next year," SM Prime said.

The Mall of Asia is envisioned to be the country’s premier shopping destination and tourist attraction revitalizing the Roxas Boulevard Bay area.

It is designed to become not just the Philippines’ largest, but also the most complete and innovative shopping complex.

The 381,000-square-meter complex consists of four buildings linked by elevated walkways. These buildings will feature a wide array of stores and venues for dining, entertainment, leisure, arts and culture.

The Main Mall will include shopping and dining establishments, the food court, and the country’s first Olympic-sized ice skating rink.

The North Parking building,on the other hand, will house the SM Department store and half of the 5,000 parking spaces while the South Parking building will include the SM Hypermarket and more dining areas.

The Mall of Asia’s newest attraction is the Entertainment Plaza which will house 10 theaters, including a director’s club and the country’s first IMAX theater.

SM Prime said its decision to push back the schedule would not have any impact on the company’s financial results for the year.

The company is confident of achieving an eight percent increase in its net income for 2005, on higher revenues from its new shopping malls, including SM City Batangas and SM City Dasmariñas, which were opened in 2004, and SM City San Lazaro, which was opened in July this year.

SM Prime reported a net income of P2.41 billion in the first half of 2005, up eight percent from the previous level. It is scheduled to open two more shopping malls before the end of the year – SM Supercenter Valenzuela in October and SM Supercenter Molino in November.

This year, SM Prime has earmarked P5 billion for the construction of new malls and acquisition of real estate properties for future expansion.

With a total land bank of 173 hectares in prime locations, SM Prime is set for continuous expansion within the next five years.