January 22nd, 2007 3 in 10 of World's 10 Largest Malls in RP - Forbes Magazine Momar Visaya/Asianjournal.com THREE out of the World's 10 Largest Malls are in the Philippines, according to a list released by Forbes Magazine in its latest issue. These are the SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall and SM City North EDSA. Asia is home to eight out of this 10, including the 3 SM malls in Metro Manila, 1 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and 4 in China. Forbes Magazine came out with the list _base_d on the amount of Gross Leasable Area - the number of square feet the property has for revenue-generating activities like retail, dining and amusements. The pervading mall culture in the Philippines, long-tagged as a third-world country, moved a notch higher last year with the opening of the SM Mall of Asia, a world-class shopping destination with a priceless view of the famed Manila Bay sunset. The SM Mall of Asia became the world’s third largest shopping mall when it opened in 2006. It boasts of 4.2 million square feet retail space, and was built at a cost of $130 million, or roughly PhP 6.5 billion. It trails behind the South China Mall in Dongguan, China, with a retail space of 7.1 million square-feet and the Jin Yuan or the Golden Resources Shopping Mall in Beijing, with 6 million square feet. Two other SM malls take their spot in the Top 10 largest malls in the world list, with SM Megamall taking the fifth spot (3.6 million square-feet) and SM City North EDSA taking the ninth spot (3 million square-feet). Only two malls from North America made it to the Top 10 list, with the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada taking the fourth spot (3.8 million square-feet) and the King of Prussia Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2.8 million square-feet) at tenth, completing the list. Six out of the 10 largest malls, including the top 3, were built in the past 3 years. Marianne Villasenor, a real estate investor visiting the Philippines from Los Angeles, couldn’t believe how a small country like the Philippines could keep up with all the shopping the SM Mall of Asia offers. “I couldn’t even tour the whole mall. It took me and my family three hours just to walk one wing,” said Villasenor. “Everything there is nice and clean. I don’t understand how the country could keep up with all the shopping. I could say one thing the people there are really in tune with the European _style_ and fashion.” The South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is just outside the Top 10 list, and together with Minnesota’s Mall of America and the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, make it in the Top 20. Rankings are _base_d on statistics from Eastern Connecticut State University, which compiles data from mall management companies. It is predicted that by 2010, China would be home to at least seven of the world’s 10 largest malls. The Mall of China and the Triple Five Wenzhou Mall, are each projected to be 10 million-square-feet. In Dubai, they are building Dubai Mall, the largest shopping space in the world with over nine million feet of retail, residential and entertainment facilities, including the world's largest gold souq market and an ice rink. The mall will also host over 1,000 specialty shops located within the ten to fifteen distinct ‘malls-within-a-mall’. Reclaiming Manila Bay SM Mall of Asia consists of 700 shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues. To visit each store for just five minutes would take a staggering 2-1/2 days. The place is so huge that the mall provides tram service, and not like the ones, you find at The Grove in Los Angeles. Just how big is it? It is half a million square feet larger than the Pentagon, which at 3.7 million-square-feet is the world’s largest office building. The mall is considered as a linchpin in the reclamation of Manila’s neglected waterfront. Inspired by Manila Bay, the mall evokes the ocean’s fluid forms through its ellipses and curving spaces in a predominantly white palette with highlights in aquamarine and blue. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself attended the mall’s inauguration last May, and watched “Everest” in the country’s first-ever IMAX Theater with triathlete Leo Oracion, the first Filipino to summit Mount Everest. Just recently, the mall’s Esplanade hosted the international fireworks competition, World Pyro Olympics. Developer Henry Sy, Sr., founder of SM Group, with Miami-_base_d architecture firm Arquitectonica, has delivered this the new retail project that would change the way people shop in the Philippines. Adapting its signature “tropical modernism” for the super-mall on Manila Bay, Arquitectonica uses broad curves and zig-zags to suggest a playful, abstract maritime theme. “Manila is defined by its energy,” says Arquitectonica founding principal Bernardo Fort-Brescia. “Few places in the world convey so clearly the ambition and drive of a population. So we have the challenge to capture that energy and give it form.” The project comprises four buildings: the Main Mall, the Entertainment Mall, and the North and South Carparks. The Main Mall contains more than 700 shops and restaurants. The Entertainment Mall holds the Philippines' first IMAX Theater; a Director’s Screening Room with 30 La-Z-Boy chairs; seven more movie theaters; an Olympic-size ice-skating rink; and a future science museum/aquarium. The Carparks house 5,000 parking spaces, the SM Hypermarket department store, and office space for Dell. “A mall is the microcosm of a village center, but we can get more creative,” says Fort-Brescia. “Plazas become interesting forms; streets curve and bend to create a sense of discovery and visual stimulation. At Mall of Asia they become multilevel sensory stimulants that lead the eye to merchandise.” Villasenor could attest to Fort-Brescia’s statement. “I only shopped in one wing but I came out with a lot of bags,” said Villasenor. Sy plans for more future developments and buildings for the SM Mall of Asia. Sy said he plans to build a 16,000-seat sports-and-entertainment coliseum, a convention center, casino and hotels. SM previously partnered with Arquitectonica on the Podium, another retail/entertainment complex in the Ortigas business district. (AJ)