Power Plant expansion set

LOPEZ-LED property developer Rockwell Land Corp. has firmed up the expansion plan for Power Plant, the retail hub of the Rockwell estate in Makati, which will be completed by the fourth quarter of next year.

Rockwell assistant vice president for commercial team Jesse Tan said in an interview on Friday, at the inauguration of new office tower 8 Rockwell,  that close to 6,000 square meters of additional retail space would be built in a vertical space to be built on where a basketball court used to be.

At present, Power Plant Mall is a four-level shopping center with 41,059 sq m of leasable area.

Tan said the mall expansion would host new international brands and new concepts.

On top of the additional retail hub will be the new full-service boutique hotel under the homegrown “Aruga” brand.

It was earlier reported that Rockwell was investing a total P6 billion to P7 billion to build two new Aruga Hotels—a 280-room boutique hotel in Rockwell Center, Makati and a 300-room beachfront resort in Mactan, Cebu.

Tan said the first four stories of the vertical structure would host the additional area while the hotel would be on the upper floors.

“On the 7th floor, it will have chapel big enough to hold 500-600 people and a nice ballroom. Before, we had a tent but now we will have big ballroom to accommodate weddings,” Tan said.

Rockwell Land Corp. is betting bigger on tourism and leisure estate with the development of a chain of luxury resorts under “Aruga Hotels” brand.

This year, Rockwell was expected to grow its net profit and revenue in the teen level.  About  P10 billion has been set aside for capital outlays.

In 2015, Rockwell chalked up P1.6 billion in net profit, 5 percent higher than last year.