By Arra B. Francia, Reporter

AYALA MALLS Group opened on Wednesday its newest mall in Balintawak, Quezon City, rising within the company’s P15-billion township dubbed Cloverleaf.

Located inside the 11-hectare estate, Ayala Malls Cloverleaf spans 39,000 square meters in gross leasable area (GLA) and will have over 150 retail and dining tenants.

As of its opening, 100% of the mall’s GLA have already been leased out, with 81% of tenants expected to move in within the week.

Ayala Malls Leasing Head Mark L. Sablan noted the Cloverleaf mall will cater to the younger generation’s lifestyle.

“We see a lot of Filipino consumers really eating out and consuming entertainment outside their home, and travel and tourism, both of these trends contribute to the dynamic happening, because people are searching for new experiences. With a very young population, the millennials, that bodes well for retail,” Mr. Sablan said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The Cloverleaf mall connects directly to the Balintawak Station of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1), and is also near the Skyway Stage 3 project set to be completed by 2020. With the project’s completion, the mall will be a 20-minute drive from Makati City.

The Ayala Malls group is also banking on Cloverleaf’s location, directly at the meeting point of the North Luzon Expressway and EDSA, to drive foot traffic. The mall is targeting residents of Quezon City as well as those in the Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela City (CAMANAVA) area.

“We think (the mall is) superior in terms of location and accessibility. Our mall goers can choose from different modes of transportation from LRT, PUV (public utility vehicles), jeepney, bus that traverse the areas of Bulacan, CAMANAVA, and others in the Quezon City area. And we promise that we will continuously deliver what the market needs,” Ayala Malls Area Head Aurora C. Legarda said during the press launch.

Ayala Land, Inc. Senior Division Manager and Cloverleaf Estate Head Wilfredo S. Teodoro explained they chose to open Cloverleaf within the estate first as this would drive more people inside the development.

“Normally retail acts as an anchor, it’s a crowd drawer. So we wanted really to open the project, retail would be a natural first to open in a development,” Mr. Teodoro said.

The Cloverleaf Mall is part of the first phase development of the estate, which will also include residential establishments under the Ayala brand. For instance, Avida Land is currently constructing a residential tower slated to be completed in 2019, with the launch of a second tower set for the second quarter of 2018.

Ayala Malls Cloverleaf forms part of the group’s plan to reach a leasable area of 2 million sq.m. by 2018.

Mr. Sablan noted there are two more malls set to open in Marikina before the year ends. One will be located along Marcos Highway, while the other one will be in Marikina Heights.

For 2018, the Ayala Malls group will open three malls in Bacolod, the Bay Area, and inside Circuit Makati. These malls have a total GLA of around 250,000, Mr. Sablan said.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR