Building Blocks

SM group acquires prime property in Caloocan

TYCOON HENRY SY’S SM GROUP has acquired a prime property in Caloocan City where an old Ever Emporium used to stand and use it as the new site of a P2-billion high-rise condominium development overlooking the Bonifacio monument.

In a recent interview with Inquirer, the tycoon’s eldest son, Henry Jr., who is vice chair and chief executive officer of SM Development Corp. (SMDC), confirmed that the group had bought the 5,000-sq.m. property, which SMDC will develop into a residential condominium but with some commercial component in the lower floors.

The property was bought from the family of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chair Sergio Osmeña Valencia, who had leased it to budget shopping mall operator Jose Go for the past 25 years, Sy said.

Sy said SMDC would undertake the development of the property as a high-rise residential development in the area and would find a good market among households living in nearby flood-prone areas like Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela.

Based on earlier reports, the unprecedented flooding in Metro Manila caused by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” has resulted in higher demand for high-rise residential units.

The SMDC chief added that prospects were bright for such development with the forthcoming extension of Metro Railway Transit 3, the elevated railway on Edsa, from West Avenue to Monumento. The extension will also pave the way for the linkage between MRT 3 and the Light Railway Transit 1 that runs from Monumento to Baclaran.

The group has yet to finalize a master plan for the Monumento property. The acquisition, however, was in line with its thrust of accumulating a significant urban land bank that could be used into residential developments to serve the growing demand for affordable housing.

The previous tenant operated in the site a 40,000-sq.m. multistory Ever Emporium, which was popular to low- to middle-income shoppers especially in the 1980s. It was the second shopping mall put up by Go after the shopping mall on CM Recto Ave.

The old Ever Emporium structure still stands at the original site now. But the change in ownership was heralded by giant tarpaulin posters on its main facade advertising SMDC’s latest condominium projects, complete with celebrity endorser Marian Rivera.

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