SM Prime to build second mall in Cebu

Mall developer and operator SM Prime Holdings Inc. is building another shopping mall in Cebu, the company said Friday. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday, SM Prime said it has entered into a lease contract with Cebu-based Everjust Realty Corp. for a 46,296-square-meter lot in Lamac village in Consolacion, Cebu. The Sy-led company plans to build on the leased property the second mall in the province after SM City Cebu, the country’s fourth biggest shopping complex. “The signing of the lease contract is one of the first significant steps that SM Prime is taking towards completing its second mall in Cebu," SM Prime president Hans Sy said in a statement. “The company considers Cebu as an ideal site for further expansion of SM malls, given its strategic role in the Visayas region and its strong export capability. It is also an ideal tourism destination and a take-off point for island hopping by ferry to other destinations," he added. The mall that will be established on the leased property — which will be named SM City Consolacion Cebu — is estimated to have a gross area of 57,436 square meters. The new mall in Cebu is scheduled to open by the fourth quarter of 2011. For the rest of this year, SM Prime said it will be opening SM City Calamba, the third SM mall in Laguna province, and SM Novaliches in Quezon City. SM Prime likewise said it is set to open by December its fourth mall in mainland China, which will be located in Suzhou City. By the end of the year, the touted country’s largest mall operator and developer is expected to have 40 malls in the Philippines, with a total gross floor area of 4.8 million square meters. - JE/OMG, GMANews.TV