SM Prime sets aside P1.4B for Bacolod mall expansion

MANILA, Philippines - SM Prime Holdings Inc., the country’s largest retail landlord, is spending P1.4 billion to expand SM City Bacolod over a two-year period.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, SM Prime said SM City Bacolod Annex will add 102,043 square meters (sqm) of gross floor area (GFA) to the main mall, increasing total GFA to 171,380 sqm.

Located at Rizal St., in the Reclamation Area of Bacolod City, the Annex will offer 81,204 sqm of gross leasable area when completed in 2014.

SM Prime opened its Bacolod Mall in March 2007 with an investment of P1.6 billion. SM Bacolod is the firm’s third mall in the Visayas, after SM City Cebu and SM City Iloilo.

Company president Hans T. Sy said the expansion “clearly manifests SM Prime’s steadfast commitment to assist in the further development and progress of the city through increased tax payments to the local government, as well as by providing residents an improved destination mall and a highly viable venue for business and commerce.”

“Our continuing business expansion only affirms our commitment to provide for better retail facilities and services in cities and municipalities that are fast emerging from greater economic stability fueled by remittances from overseas workers and the growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector,” Sy said.

Earlier this year, SM Prime opened SM City Olongapo in Zambales. For the rest of 2012, it is slated to open SM City Lanang in Davao City, SM City Gen. Santos in South Cotabato, SM City Consolacion in Cebu, SM City San Fernando in Pampanga and SM Chongqing in China.

By the end of 2012, SM Prime will have 46 malls in the Philippines and five in China, with an estimated combined GFA of 6.3 million sqm.