ALI forms new unit for community malls

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), widely known for its chain of upscale malls, has formed a new unit to formalize its entry into neighborhood malls, a cluster of retail centers to rise within its existing and planned communities.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said its board has approved the incorporation of 100-percent owned unit, Primavera Town Center, to “handle the planning, development, and management of small-format retail facilities known as neighborhood centers within the company’s existing and planned growth centers across the country.”

These neighborhood centers will offer a convenient shopping and lifestyle experience to the immediate mixed-use communities, occupying no more than 10,000 square meters of gross leasable space, ALI said.

The new subsidiary will be initially capitalized at P320 million, enough to fund the development of five neighborhood centers next year and another three to six planned in each of the succeeding four years. These will rise in Makati, Bonifacio Global City, Nuvali and other potential growth centers in Luzon.

ALI said the move is in line with the company’s growth strategy to expand its market and geographic reach in order to serve broader economic segments in more areas across the country.

The company said these neighborhood malls, which have become a convenient alternative to the big shopping centers, are expected to transform into engines of social and economic capital at the neighborhood level.

Community malls support the growing trend of people who do not want to travel far to shop due to rising fuel prices.

ALI has allotted  P17.4 billion in capital expenditures this year which include the redevelopment of the Ayala Center, estimated to cost P7.2 billion, and the completion of MarQuee Mall in Angeles, Pampanga.

Marquee Mall, ALI’s first provincial shopping center outside Cebu, made available an additional 38,000 square meters of gross leasable area when it opened its doors to the public   last September. It will allow the company to broaden its reach and allow it to tap into the increasing consumer demand and sophistication in a rapidly expanding economic growth corridor at the heart of Central Luzon.

On the other hand, the redevelopment of Glorietta 1 and 2 is expected to be completed by 2012.

Also part of the Ayala Center makeover is the construction of Raffles Hotel and Private Residences and Fairmont Hotel.

Meanwhile, the first phase of its Davao mall development will offer 35,000 square meters of gross leasable space by 2011.

Aside from the Ayala Center malls (Glorietta and Greenbelt) and Marquee Mall, ALI also developed Market! Market! In Taguig, Bonifacio High Street, TriNoma in Quezon City, Alabang Town Center and Ayala Center Cebu.