Henry Sy memory lives on: Kids not stopping at 79 SM malls

Property giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. is poised for further expansion in 2019 as it seeks to widen its footprint in the country and abroad.

The company planned to open four new malls this year, adding to its existing 72 shopping centers, and would launch an additional 15,000 to 20,000 residential units, officials said during the company’s annual meeting Tuesday.

SM Prime chair Henry Sy Jr. said they also planned to start work on their eighth mall in China: SM Yangzhou.

Sy said SM Prime would continue to be “aggressive” in pursuing opportunities along its core businesses.

“There is no change in terms of our working attitude, we will stay as what our past chair wanted us to be, very conservative but very hardworking,” SM Prime director Hans Sy said. He was referring to his father and SM Group founder, Henry Sy Sr., who passed away on Jan. 19.

SM Prime earlier disclosed a capital spending budget of P80 billion. For shopping malls, it will add 200,000 square meters (sqm) of gross floor area and will be located in developing provincial cities like SM Center in Dagupan in Pangasinan, SM City Olongapo Central in Zambales, SM City Butuan in Caraga Region, and SM Mindoro Citimall in Zamboanga.

SM Prime is also set to launch this year the NU Tower, its first university-office building in the Mall of Asia Complex; and two new hotels in Iloilo and Quezon City, the Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo and Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa.
“The year 2019 marks another era for SM Prime as we celebrate our 25th year of being a publicly listed company in the Philippines. Moving forward, we will continue to deliver world-class products to our communities, which will also translate into sustainable growth for our shareholders,” SM Prime president Jeffrey C. Lim said in a statement. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS