Making business & leisure simple at the MOA complex

Just when you thought it was already so huge, SM Mall of Asia is going to get even bigger. The complex in Pasay City — a 60-hectare, mixed-use project of SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) — is envisioned to become the premier business and tourism destination in the Philippines.

SM Mall of Asia, developed by SMIC subsidiary SM Prime, is the country’s largest and most expensive mall (with a price tag of P7 billion). It strengthens SMIC’s position as a comprehensive real estate developer and not just a developer of malls. The conglomerate — of which 78 percent is owned by the Sy family and the rest by stakeholders from Asia, the US and Europe — has four core businesses, namely, retail (SM Department Store, supermarket and hypermarket); mall development under SM Prime; banking (BDO and China Bank); and property development including the Mall of Asia complex under SM Development Corporation, which is also into residential and tourism development that includes residential and hotel properties in Tagaytay and Batangas.

The entire Mall of Asia complex is expected to be completed in the next 10 to 15 years with the master plan designed by Arquitectonica.

Cora Guidote, vice president and investment relations officer of SMIC, describes the complex as a “business park” with most of the property allocated for office buildings — yet the complex has strong tourism components given its location by the Manila Bay and its famous sunset.

“Even without inviting tour operators, they bring their tourists to Mall of Asia by the buses. It was built as a mall but it was designed in such a way that even local and foreign tourists take pleasure in it.”

Pinoy balikbayans are known to put MOA in their itineraries when they vacation in the Philippines. As one friend who hadn’t been home for nearly 20 years put it when I brought him to Mall of Asia:  “There is no such a mall on the US West Coast — not like this.” At least not in a 20-hectare lot with more than 700 shops and food outlets to choose from. And let’s not forget the skating rink and the country’s first IMAX  theater.

The complex recently opened the Asia Science and Discovery Center, a theme park devoted to science and technology developed with the US-based Leisure Entertainment Consultancy.

The Esplanade, the strip that directly faces Manila Bay, is set to open in November with its row of restaurants and shops. Remember how the whole of Metro Manila and the suburbs seemed to be at MOA to watch the World Pyro Olympics in January this year? Well, this December expect more activities here. “We are capitalizing on our location by building dining and entertainment facilities facing Manila Bay.”

The second phase of the development is the construction of more office buildings, says Cora. The first to open is One E-Com Center as part of its IT hub. This is a 10-storey smart building on a one-hectare lot designed for call center operations and specialized offices. It also provides recreational spaces for people working in these tech companies. There will be basketball and badminton courts, central courtyards and a Fitness First branch, the 16th in the country. 

The office buildings — not all of them designed for BPOs by the way — will be leased to offices and call centers for about P450 to P550 per square meter, a competitive rate compared with Makati, whose office spaces rent for between P500 and P1,000.

Next to open is the SMX Convention Center, a P1.8 billion project that’s touted to be the biggest in the country for local and international trade and cultural events. That’s what we lack here. The World Trade Center has proven to be too small for exhibits that try to woo foreign buyers.

SMX is a three-story building with 46,647 square meters of space for exhibition areas, function halls and meeting rooms. It will be able to accommodate 6,000 people cocktail-style. A bridgeway on the second level will connect SMX to the mall’s south parking building. 

For leisure activities there will be SM Arena, an indoor facility for sports and entertainment events that can seat 16,000 spectators. It’s foreseen as the venue of choice for concerts, to rival Araneta Coliseum in Cubao. The Arena is also designed by Arquitectonica, which designed the American Airlines Arena.

In the future, people who want to go to MOA will have an easier time with the construction of the SM Ferry, which will feature a modern terminal with service to Cavite City, Bataan, and to SMIC’s development, the Hamilo Coast, in Nasugbu, Batangas. The last destination will take only an hour by ferry, cutting down by an hour-and-a-half the trip by land.  

As for hotel development, Microtel Inns and Suite is set to open a 150-room hotel next to SMX Convention Center by the end of 2008. The project cost is P274 million.

Meryll Yu, SVP for hotel investments, says SMIC has signed a memorandum of understanding with Radisson Hotels to open a four-star hotel in the complex by 2009. “Radisson will have 400 guestrooms, with ballrooms, restaurants and meetings rooms.”

Truly, SM Mall of Asia complex will have it all for you.