SM Prime opens SM City Rosales today

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is set to open SM City Rosales, the company’s first mall in the province of Pangasinan today. The new mall has a gross floor area (GFA) of 60,989 square meters (sqm) and stands on 121,685 sqm of land.

SM City Rosales has a leasable area of 43,235 sqm and has as its major tenants SM Department Store and SM Hypermarket, which will occupy 16,686 sqm and 8,591 sqm of floor space, respectively. The SM Department Store however, will open in April 2009. The mall’s amenities include a 973-sqm food court and parking slots for over 1,000 vehicles. Other mall tenants include SM Appliance, Jollibee, McDonald’s, KFC, National Bookstore, Watsons, Ace Hardware, and Timezone, among others.

SM Prime president Hans Sy said “our expansion towards provincial markets continues with the opening of SM City Rosales. The commitment to deliver the SM quality of mall products and services closer to more Filipinos remains a steadfast goal for SM Prime. Rosales is a highly progressive municipality in Pangasinan with a large, productive agricultural base. It is also a take-off point to the major cities of Dagupan, Nueva Ecija, and Baguio, which make the area highly accessible. As such, Rosales is an ideal location for an SM mall.”

It is estimated that the opening of SM City Rosales will provide employment to close to 1,500 people which includes direct and indirect employees.

Rosales is a two-time winner of the cleanest, greenest, and safest municipality award in the province of Pangasinan. It was also recognized as the most outstanding local government unit in eco-tourism and environmental protection in 2006.

SM City Rosales brings to 32 the total number of SM Prime malls all over the country, with a combined GFA of 4.1 million sqm. It is the second SM mall to open this year, after SM City Marikina, which was inaugurated last September.

In addition, the company opened the other day the bridgeway at SM Megamall with 15,000 sqm of additional space and in December, The Annex at SM North Edsa with an additional 90,000 sqm bringing total GFA to 346,679 sqm for Megamall and 421,861 sqm for North EDSA. Before the year ends, SM Prime is set to unveil SM Baliwag in Bulacan and the expansion of SM Fairview in Quezon City.