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PHILIPPINES BOASTS CUTTING-EDGE RETAIL DEVELOPMENTS

By Curt Hazlett

You do not have to travel far in the Philippines to find a shopping center. With three big developers and a few smaller ones, the Britain-sized archipelago has more than 100 shopping centers, from super-regionals to small open-air properties — evidence that modern retail has become an integral part of the lives of Filipinos.

The country’s largest shopping center development firm is SM Holdings, followed by Robinsons. This month SM hopes to open the Philippines’ largest mall, SM Mall of Asia, in Pasay City, comprising some 4 million square feet of retail space.

The largest real estate developer overall in the country is Ayala Land, which has built planned communities and high-rise office buildings around the islands. Ayala has also built eight shopping centers, including Greenbelt 3, in Makati City, the Philippines’ first lifestyle center. Designed by Seattle-based Callison Architecture, the center won an ICSC award in 2005 for innovative design and construction.

A look at the Philippines’ shopping centers shows that modern retail has spread quickly in the largely agricultural country, and that its impact has been profound, especially in the cities.

“Malling is a way of life,” said Rowena Tomeldan, vice president of operations for the Ayala Malls unit of Ayala Land. “It is really part of weekend activities and a way to unwind from work. So we see potential for growth, but there is a need to choose the right location. There are some that are already overmalled.”

Ayala began developing shopping centers in the 1960s and has seen its properties evolve and grow. Its centerpiece is the mixed-use Ayala Center, which Tomeldan describes as “at the center of the central business district” of Makati City, one of the municipalities that together form metro Manila.

The center consists of Greenbelt, a lifestyle center, and Glorieta, a regional mall. Together, Tomeldan says, they attract more than 500,000 visitors a day.

In a country with as much retail as the Philippines, it is important to make each project different, Tomeldan says. Greenbelt’s restaurants and bars were placed at the front of the center so that they overlook a park that features various themes. “It is known as the place where people unwind and relax in metro Manila,” said Tomeldan.

“We always try to differentiate ourselves,” Tomelda said. “Our malls don’t look alike. Each time we develop a new concept.”