Local property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. has gained a foothold in the populous city of Caloocan with the opening of a new shopping mall, its 55th in the country.
SM Center Sangandaan, which opened on Friday, has a gross floor area of 38,622 square meters (sq m), giving the mall empire a total retail footprint of 6.82 million sq m, the largest in the country.
The new mall is strategically located along the busy intersection of Samson Road and A. Mabini Street in Sangandaan, Caloocan City. This is seen to give SM Prime access to the northern tip of Metro Manila, which also hosts the highly dense cities of Malabon and Navotas.
“SM Center Sangandaan reflects SM Prime’s commitment to be part of the growth across communities. We are very pleased to open our first mall in Caloocan City which is a testament to the fact that Metro Manila is far from being saturated by modern retail facilities,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said.
SM Center Sangandaan is the fifth SM mall to open this year, after Cherry SM in Shaw Boulevard and SM City Cabanatuan.
The highly anticipated SM Seaside City Cebu, meanwhile, is scheduled to open on Nov. 27.
By the end of 2015, SM Prime will have 56 malls in the Philippines and six in China with an estimated combined gross floor area of 8.3 million sq m.
SM Prime said it remained “committed to its role as a catalyst for economic growth, delivering innovative and sustainable lifestyle cities, thereby enriching the quality of life of millions of people.”
More than 90 percent of SM Center Sangandaan has already been leased to various tenants.
The mall will have anchor tenants such as SM Supermarket, SM Appliance Center, SM Cinema, Ace Hardware, BDO, and Watsons, the company said.
“The mall’s facade gets its inspiration from different shades of blue, gray and white, giving the exterior a quirky geometric visual design. The main interior features a high glass ceiling, complemented by white walls which maximizes daylight and adds further dimension to the mall,” the company said.
SM Center Sangandaan was planned around a “simple yet efficient design that allows shoppers to easily stroll around and provides clear line-of-sight to all shops on all levels at the same time,” the firm said.