SM adding new malls, eyes more solar rooftop

MANILA, Philippines — The SM Group is beefing up its network of shopping malls with the opening of SM City Caloocan this week.

SM Supermalls president Steven Tan told The STAR that SM City Caloocan will be opening its doors to the public on May 17.

Also slated to open this year are SM City J Mall in Cebu by September, SM City Laoag by October and SM City San Fernando La-Union in the fourth quarter, Tan also said.

The four new malls will add more than 440,000 square meters of gross floor area to SM Prime’s mall portfolio.

After these four malls, SM’s mall expansion will be geared  toward the provinces, with a focus of covering most of Northern Luzon, Visayas and the progressive cities in Mindanao.

SM Prime, one of the leading integrated property developers in Southeast Asia and the largest mall operator and developer in the Philippines, currently has 85 malls in the country with a total gross floor area of 9.2 million sqm.

It is targeting to have a portfolio of 100 malls in the country by the end of 2027.

As part of the SM Group’s sustainability agenda, Tan said the company is also keen on installing rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system in more malls.

Of its 85 malls, Tan said 23 currently have solar PV system. He said they hope to increase the number to 30 by the end of the year.

SM Supermalls started installing solar PV systems at SM City North EDSA in 2014.

Recently, the company unveiled its largest rooftop solar PV system to date at SM City in Santa Rosa, Laguna.

Installed across over two hectares of the mall’s building, the solar system is composed of 5,772 panels at 3.088 MWp capacity.

“It’s really doing business responsibly. Especially big businesses like us, we have the responsibility to make sure that we all do these things not just for ourselves but also for the country and the next generation,” Tan said.