Mall developer signs Bacolod land deal

MANILA, Phillippines–Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has entered into a property deal to build a new mall in Bacolod City as part of its plan to set up a nationwide chain of community-based malls.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, DoubleDragon said its subsidiary CityMall Commercial Center Inc. (CMCCI) had secured through a joint venture a 1.1-hectare commercial corner lot along Araneta Street in Singcang, Bacolod. It added that this would be the site for the construction of CityMall-Goldenfields Bacolod.

“The site is an integral part of the six-hectare Goldenfields commercial complex that will soon be redeveloped as a new and vibrant mixed-use development to serve the north of Bacolod,” the disclosure said.

Bacolod City is the capital and center of commerce and finance in Negros Occidental and is the most populous city in Western Visayas. It has oil companies, factories, bottling plants, allied industrial businesses, steel fabrication, power generation, agribusinesses, prawn culture and other aquaculture ventures.

DoubleDragon is building an inventory of a million square meters of leasable space by 2020 by creating a chain of 100 community malls under the “CityMall” brand alongside other commercial and office developments.

CMCCI is a 66-percent owned subsidiary of DoubleDragon while Henry Sy-led SM Investments Corp. is a strategic partner with a 34-percent stake. The “CityMall” chain is envisioned to become one of the biggest branded community mall network in the Philippines with floor areas of about 5,000 to 10,000 square meters in each location and will be located in prime locations, mostly in Visayas and Mindanao.–Doris C. Dumlao