Metrobank unit to launch P5-B masterplanned community

Federal Land Inc., the real estate development arm of the country’s largest financial services group Metrobank, will open next month its second strip mall, the Blue Wave at Marquinton, with occupancy reaching almost 100 percent ahead of schedule.

Marquinton (or Marikina Town Center) is a P5-billion master-planned community in the cleanest and best managed city in the Philippines. Apart from the mini-mall, the project will also include the development of medium-rise residential condominiums catering to families looking for an affordable and cozy place within Metro Manila’s key urban centers.

Riding on the wave of mini-malls sprouting in Metro Manila, FedLand is upbeat about business prospects especially with its latest project, which has already attracted major retailers such as Watson’s Drug Store, Jollibee Foods Corp., Max’s Fried Chicken, KFC, Pancake House, Pizza Hut, Yellow Cab, Superbowl, Gerry’s Grill, Starbucks, Kodak, Timezone Arcade, Mendrez Shoes, and Rusty Lopez.

FedLand president Edward Tan said the three-story Blue Wave Marquinton has attracted strong demand from merchants, restaurants, and service providers because of its potential as the first commercial development in Marikina City for more than a decade.

Tan said the strong uptake for retail space at the Blue Wave Marquinton reaffirmed the market’s growing demand for strip malls that are more accessible, provide more parking spaces, attract more focused buyer groups, and generate savings on operating costs.

"Although it was built to primarily serve buyers of Marquinton’s residential towers, we expect the Blue Wave mall to cater to the young and upwardly mobile population of Marikina City," Tan said.

Real estate consultancy group Colliers International has pegged the vacancy rate in Metro Manila’s retail area at 15 percent which is expected to increase to 17 percent by the end of the year with the completion of big shopping malls.

With the influx of commercial space, Colliers noted that more developers are turning to niche retail by building "smaller scale malls." Just recently, the SM Group of retail tycoon Henry Sy unveiled plans to put up mini-malls or community malls to capture new tenants and traffic.

Community mini-malls or hypermarkets have mushroomed in the past two years as they cater to a fixed group or market.

Hypermarkets have been compared to mini-malls because they provide complete services like food, general merchandise, banks, shoes and fastfood restaurants.

Blue Wave also boasts of four state-of-the-art cinemas. Each cinema has a seating capacity for 300 persons and is equipped with the latest Dolby Digital EX sound system.

The Blue Wave Marquinton is FedLand’s second venture into the shopping mall business after its first Blue Wave Mall at the 40-hectare Metropolitan Park, widely considered as one of the best-looking and best-managed strip malls in the country today.

FedLand has logged in 33 years in the real estate business specializing in high rise residential and commercial projects.