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AYALA
Land, Inc. (ALI), the property development arm of the
Philippines’ oldest conglomerate Ayala Corp., will open
next month its new shopping mall in Quezon City.
In an
interview Wednesday, ALI president Jaime Ayala said the
TriNoma mall in North Triangle will cater to both the
low and high-end markets.
“Quezon
City is a very rich market. It would have both the
Glorietta and
Greenbelt
markets,” he told reporters.
According to him, over 90 percent has already been
leased out to various tenants.
The
company, however, does not expect TriNoma to start
contributing substantial profits this year despite its
scheduled opening next month.
In a
previous interview, senior vice president and chief
finance officer Jaime E. Ysmael said the mall will still
be in a start-up mode this year; therefore, income
contribution to ALI is expected to be minimal.
“Probably less than P100 million or less than P50
million even, because it’s more in the period of
building up and making the entire mall operational. It’s
really in 2008 that it would start contributing,” said
Ysmael.
Located
at the cornerstone of
Quezon City’s
development as a robust commercial hub north of
Manila,
TriNoma is seen to compete head-on with the Sy group’s
SM North Edsa in terms of sales and market volume. The
mall has unique water features, state-of-the-art
cinemas, parks and eventful zones and activity places.
According to Ysmael, TriNoma alone will increase ALI’s
total shopping center gross leasable area (GLA) by 26
percent.
Apart
from TriNoma, ALI’s growth in shopping center GLA is
also locked in with two other major mall developments,
namely, Greenbelt 5 and a provincial mall in Angeles
City, Pampanga.
Greenbelt
5 positions itself to be the Philippines’ premier
fashion lifestyle center, featuring international luxury
brands as well as the best of Filipino artistry and
ingenuity. The mall’s first phase will open its doors to
the public in the fourth quarter of 2007.
Construction of ALI’s first provincial mall offering
started last quarter. With direct access to North Luzon
Expressway, the regional mall, which aims to become the
premiere shopping center in central
Luzon, would open in 2009.
ALI, the
largest property developer in the country, has set aside
a capital expenditure budget of P16.2 billion this year
to fund various residential projects; shopping centers
and strategic landbank management. |
