Shop and live at Greenhills Shopping Center

MANILA, Philippines - I grew up in Greenhills. My family lived in Greenhills East from 1963 to 1992. We moved to Greenhills East, the first of the four Greenhills subdivisions to be opened when I was born.

When I was about five years old I remember that there weren’t many houses in the subdivision yet. La Salle Greenhills, which opened in 1958 was the only school in the subdivision and it was here where I spent many summers playing football with my older brothers who studied there.

I also remember that the Greenhills Shopping Center, which was about a five-minute walk from our house, was one of the places my siblings and I would frequent as it was being constructed. It was fun playing a guessing game as to what would be built there.

“Greenhills Shopping Center opened in 1969,” said Cathy Casares-Ko, general manager, shopping center division,  Ortigas & Company. “Ortigas started developing the area in 1967.”

“Unimart Grocery opened in 1969,” added Joselito F. Santos, senior vice president, general manager, real estate division, Ortigas & Company.  “When Unimart opened it was Erap’s first term as mayor of San Juan. At the opening of Unimart Imelda Marcos was present.”

In the recent years it has been rumored that Unimart, the grocery that everyone in Greenhills goes to and has come to love, would close. A rumor that many people believed and found very sad. If Unimart goes, then it is as if the Greenhills Shopping Center would have lost one of its main limbs.

Making matters worse was the news that the entire Greenhills Shopping Center would be rebuilt to a new and fancy mall.

But, that can’t happen. Greenhills Shopping Center is a place where the memories of many childhoods were built.

I will never forget the 3M pizza that they sold at Manila Bank Arcade (Manila Bank Arcade no longer exists. It is now occupied by part of the tiangge). Regina’s has been in Shoppesville forever. Matter of fact, it is still located in the same spot where it has been from the start. There is Chockfull O’ Nuts which has a small kiosk and when I pass by it I still see the cuapao and chocolate crinkles it is known for.

That is what Greenhills Shopping Center is to its regular shoppers. It is a place where memories were built. It was the first real shopping center that is close to a community that ever existed in the country.

When I travel to other countries, I am reminded of Greenhills Shopping Center when I see shopping areas that are built around communities.

“The mandate that we gave to our planners when we identified on of the key features of the redeveloped Greenhills Shopping Center is that the Greenhills tiangge maintain its ‘organized chaos’ shopping experienceadded Casares-Ko. “We want a modern shopping center but we also want to keep the features of the shopping center like being family-oriented, and being a place for great finds. We cannot be a clinical mall.”

The redevelopment story of Greenhills

“We started off with the construction of the new Gloria Maris building, which is now open. There is also a Japanese restaurant called Wafu, ” added Casares-Ko. “That kind of set the tone for the rest of the redevelopment of Greenhills Shopping Center. Beneath the new building are two levels of basement parking.”

One of the things that Casares-Ko says is also a priority of the Greenhills redevelopment is the creation of more parking spaces. So what the Shopping Center now has are two levels of underground parking beneath the new Gloria Maris building that connects to the parking beneath the Promenade extension.

“All new developments in the shopping center will feature that amenity (underground parking) because it is the shortage of parking spaces is always an issue here in Greenhills, the lack of parking space,” she added. We are taking advantage of all the opportunities to build more parking spaces.”

At the Promenade there are plans of adding three more state of the art digital cinemas. The plan also includes an upscale indoor mall to add stores that will cater to the growing clientele in the Greenhills Shopping Center.  However, Casares-Ko shared that it is important that the identity and the flavor of the Promenade extension be similar to the existing one.

The intent of Ortigas & Company in ensuring that a more efficient Greenhills Shopping Center is built is to include interconnected basement parking facilities for all buildings. In effect, what will be created is another layer level of road circulation underneath the buildings.

This foresight in planning will result in the easing of the traffic flow within the shopping center area. A few years from now, when the total redevelopment of Greenhills Shopping Center is expected to be completed, the circulation on ground of cars in the shopping center will be for through traffic. “Cars looking for parking can actually go straight down to the basement level from various access points. 

“We see that the problem of traffic in the shopping center at present is caused by the fact that the people looking for parking and the people who are going around are all above ground,” quipped Casares-Ko.

Space to live, work, and shop

“Since this is the first phase of the redevelopment of Greenhills, we have decided to give people a flavor of the kind of ‘Shop-live’ concept that we envision for Greenhills,” said Santos. “The first residential project in Greenhills, which is called The Viridian, will be built beside Gloria Maris at the corner of Connecticut and Missouri streets.”

The Viridian is a 53-story luxury residential condo, which will have studios, one, two and three bedroom units.

The four residential communities in the Greenhills area have a total of about 500 houses. This is not enough for the needs of the Greenhills community.

Santos added that all of the houses are big in the Greenhills villages and the value of a house in the area is at least P100M. Yet, the children of the Greenhills residents still want to live near their parents

“There is an affinity for the Greenhills area,” added Santos. “The schools are here, there are churches, there is a hospital and access to EDSA is very easy. It is in between Quezon City and Makati. A condo like Viridian allows us to offer more affordable housing. The most expensive three-bedroom condo is between P30 to 35M.”

The Viridian, when it is finally completed, will satisfy the need for housing in the area. The Viridian will be completed by 2016 at the same time that the total redevelopment of the Greenhills Shopping Center will be done.

Santos is sure that the Viridian will be completed as scheduled. Construction is already on-going.

Unimart will be rebuilt

Starting the first month of 2013, the development of the planned new Unimart will begin. The plan is to build a new supermarket building with  two levels of basement parking and five more levels of parking above it. “The planned new Unimart will be located in the area across where it is now,” added Casares-ko. “Eventually when the building is complete, we will transfer Unimart to the new building and then continue to develop the commercial center further.”Casares-Ko says that it is about time that Unimart be moved because the current building that houses the grocery is so old and dilapidated. But, she adds that Unimart will not close, it will only transfer when the new building is ready by 2015.“We have a patent on the name Unimart,”added Casares-Ko.

“There are many stories related to Greenhills. It is at Club Filipino where President Cory Aquino took her oath as President of the Philippines in 1986. Greenhills is also where many ICA and Poveda girls met their Xavier or La Salle boyfriends.

“We always emphasize that the reason that Greenhills has been successful all these years is its in the belly of the dragon,” added Santos. “A lot of the established entrepreneurs come from Greenhills. Stores like Kamiseta,  Bayo, and even Toby’s had their first stores here.”

From the looks of the way the new Greenhills Shopping Center is being planned we are certain that it will stay the way we have grown up knowing it. Yet, it will be modern and first class as it changes with the times. A place where the shopping experience is different and unique and where the finds are always more than what we bargained for.