Cubao’s changing landscape

The Araneta Group undertakes its most ambitious project so far with the construction of a P2.5- billion shopping mall, as part of a 20-year masterplan to transform Araneta Center into a prime business and retail complex.

The move also takes Araneta Center one step closer to its vision of the becoming the commercial and business district of Quezon City.

The Gateway Mall, to be situated beside Araneta Coliseum, will have over 100,000 sq.m. of gross building area with five levels occupied by an estimated 170 food and retail stores. It will also have 10 movie theaters with a centralized ticketing facility.

Integrated atop the shopping mall will be a nine-storey office tower, called ‘cyber offices,’ which will be equipped with advanced telecom facilities and broadband technology to meet the unique requirements of modern-day entrepreneurs engaged in the information technology business.

According to Araneta Center president Teofilo Asuncion Jr., soft launching of the mall will be in March 2004 while the grand launch will be held four months after.

Gateway’s direct connection to the LRT 2 and MRT 3 will make the mall accessible even to those coming from Aurora Blvd., EDSA, Rizal and Marikina.

Gateway Mall is expected to be like no other mall in the world. It will feature the Oasis, a 450-sq.m. four level open-air indoor garden that functions as the ‘green lung’ of the complex. It will have a 10-screen Cineplex, including a 40-seat Gold Club Cinema and one 600-seater cinema.

Araneta spared no expense in getting only the world’s best companies to carry out the masterplan. It commissioned eight foreign and four local consultants headed by RTKL Int’l Ltd., one of the best architecture and urban planning consultants in the United States.

Vision

The Gateway Mall, according to Asuncion, is the first major leg of the group’s 20-year masterplan for the redevelopment of the 35-hectare Araneta Center.

The redevelopment however started a few years back. The Araneta Center, more popularly known as the Big Dome, embarked on a P200-million renovation that started in May 1999. The group likewise undertook the renovation and expansion of Farmers Plaza in July of the same year while it renovated Ali Mall in 2000.

But the management of Araneta Center is aware of the multifarious tasks ahead. According to Asuncion, there is also a need to improve the surrounding areas and embark on an ‘urban renewal’ project.

These tasks involve improving the peace and order situation, the traffic situation, and addressing the issue of the presence of sidewalk vendors, among others. Asuncion said they have already received the support of Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. as well as the Araneta Center Business Association on the matter.

For many shoppers who are tired of going to Ortigas or Makati and braving the huge volume of human traffic that has made shopping a nightmare, the Gateway Mall will prove to be a much welcome relief.