PROPERTY giant Ayala Land Inc. is breaking into the Bicol Region’s retail property market by teaming up with the LCC group founded by local retailer Tan Chu Lim.
The partners will invest P1.6 billion in a shopping complex that will rise in Legazpi, Albay by the end of this year.
ALI senior vice president and group head of commercial business Jose Emmanuel Jalandoni confirmed to the Inquirer that the property group had entered into a partnership with Bicol-based LCC group to develop a new shopping complex in Legazpi, Bicol Region’s political center and biggest city.
The shopping complex, which will be developed on a 1.4-hectare lot, will have 32,000 square meters of gross leasable space, Jalandoni said, adding that the facility would be open for business by December this year.
Under the partnership, ALI will operate the mall while LCC will operate the department store and supermarket, he said. The mall will have 200 stores, four cinemas and al fresco dining.
Based on its website, LCC-Liberty Commercial Center Inc. is one of the pioneering operator of commercial establishments in Albay Province and the Bicol Region. The group operates supermarkets, department stores, food outlets and malls. It is also into property development.
The LCC was founded in 1945 by businessman Tan Chu Lim and wife Tan Sy Sa who established a small store called “Liberty Bazaar.” The first store was put up in Tabaco while the first LCC branch was set up in Lgazpi City in 1981. The group has since then entered Naga City, Sorsogon City, Ligao City, Polangui, Guinobatan, Camalig, Nabua, Pili, Daraga and Iriga City. Among its brands are LCC Supermarket , LCC Expressmart, LCC Department Store, Store Plus, Home Center, Toys For You, French Croissanterie, Food Court and Food Express.
One of Southeast Asia’s largest property firms by market capitalization, ALI has mapped out an aggressive expansion plan across different market segments and geographical location in the country.
Under its new president Bernard Vincent Dy, ALI is embarking on “Vision 2020,” a program to grow business by 20 percent yearly in the next six years, with the end-goal of breaching a net profit of P40 billion by 2020.
For 2015, ALI has earmarked P100 billion for capital spending, the largest so far in the property developer’s history. Around 43 percent of the amount will be spent for development projects, 32 percent for land acquisition and 25 percent for investment properties.