SM Prime to open 71st mall

Southeast Asian property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. is set to open its 71st mall in the Philippines—SM City Legazpi in Albay —this Friday.

Bicolandia’s newest lifestyle destination offers 88,000 square meters of gross floor area.

“SM Prime joins the City of Legazpi in bringing fun and adventure to the picturesque province of Albay with the opening of SM City Legazpi. To date, this is the company’s biggest mall in the Bicol region. Together with SM City Naga in Camarines Sur, this new lifestyle destination in Bicolandia will elevate the malling experience of both the locals and tourists with offerings from top local and global brands,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Legazpi, home to the picturesque Mayon Volcano, is Bicol region’s center for tourism, education, health services, commerce and transportation.

The city hosts a number of hotels, restaurants, health and educational facilities, as well as banks and other financial institutions that serve this community of 200,000 residents.

Legazpi City is also among the top provincial cities with valuable overseas remittances in the Philippines, contributing significantly to national development.

SM City Legazpi will open with 85 percent of its space lease-awarded. It has three levels of shopping, dining and entertainment concepts led by The SM Store, SM Supermarket, SM Appliance Center, Ace Hardware, Our Home, Watsons, Surplus, Sports Central, Bata Shoes, Miniso, The Body Shop, Uniqlo and Banco de Oro.

SM Prime said the mall would feature green architecture, accentuated by a vast glass-walled SM Food Hall overlooking the Mayon volcano. The mall will also have SM Cyberzone and six SM cinemas.

Standing in a prime location along Imelda Roces Avenue, formerly known as Tahao Road, the mall offers customer-centric facilities such as breastfeeding station,  PWD-access ramps, customer service hub and a 922-slot car park.

SM Prime has so far opened three new malls in the first half of 2018: SM Center Imus in Cavite, SM City Urdaneta Central in Pangasinan and SM City Telabastagan in Pampanga. It is scheduled to open SM Center Ormoc in Leyte in the last quarter of the year.

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.”