8990 ventures into mall development

MANILA, Philippines -  Mass housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. is spending P452 million for the construction of its first mall in Tondo.

8990 held yesterday the groundbreaking ceremony for its first mall development called Deca Mall Tondo which is located within its 8.4 hectare Urban Deca Homes Tondo complex in Manila.

The two-story mall primarily caters to residents of the 13-building complex as well as people living nearby.

“If you notice this place, there’s no mall and this is one of the densest places in the Philippines. A lot of people live here,” 8990 president and chief executive officer Januario Jesus Atencio told reporters on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony.

Atencio said the company is in the process of looking for anchor tenants, particularly a supermarket and a department store.

“We’re looking for a department store/supermarket to solve the area’s retail and consumer goods need and problems,” Atencio said.

Deca Malls Tondo offers a total of 21,000 square meters of gross leasable area and will also feature slots for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on the second level.

Atencio said the mall is set to be completed in one year while some of the residential units will be turned over same time.

Urban Deca Homes offers a total of 13,212 units spread across the 13-story residential towers.

8990 chairman Mariano Martinez said the development of the entire complex located in Vitas, Tondo would help change the image of the district.

“We begin the transformation to the value that we should add to older communities like Tondo,” Martinez said.

Apart from the residential and mall component, a hospital is also set to rise in the complex, as 8990 donated around 1,000 sqm of its property to a religious group conducting medical missions in the area.

Atencio said the company would build another mall next year.