New mall to have theaters, convention center, hotel

Seeing the potential for the conventions market, a Cebu-based property developer will add a convention center and theaters to its   project, the J Center Mall,  when it soft opens in September.

Justin Uy, chief executive officer of Everjust Realty Development Corp., yesterday said the convention center and the theaters were not originally in the master plan of the mall at A.S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City.

He said they had to add those facilities as they were anticipating an increase in demand from the conventions market within the next few years.

A hotel and an apartelle will also be included in the J Mall Center development plan to complement the  convention center.

Uy said the convention center could seat up to 1,360 people with breakout rooms for smaller functions like executive and business meetings.

Jerry Uy of Everjust Realty Development Corp. said the convention center will cover three hectares and will be developed in five years.

“After the mall, we will then have the hotel and the apartelle. The floor area of the mall including the parking area is about 11 hectares,” Uy said.

Uy said his group had started talking with major international hotel chains that will operate the hotel, which will have a maximum of 24 floors.

Harry Pow, president of H.S. Pow Construction, which is the contractor of the whole development, said  the foundation of the hotel was already in place.

“If our study says that we will need about 550 rooms, then we’ll have 18 floors on top of the six floors connected from the mall. However if our study shows that we will only need 350 rooms that we’ll have 14 to 15 floors on top of the six floors,” Pow said.

Officials said that the mall was targeting the high-end or A, B and upper C markets with SM Hypermarket as their anchor store as well as restaurants and fast-food chains such as Jollibee, McDonalds and Mang Inasal.

Uy said he was inspired to enter the real estate industry because of  the success of many developers in the country such as those managing the SM chain.

“We idolize SM, which was just leasing space before and now has become a major player in the industry. We try to follow good examples like them,” he said.

The company’s plans include developing housing projects. It has  started acquiring properties like the Kia Motors property at MC Briones Street, Mandaue City, which is a three-hectare lot, and another lot in the central part of Mandaue City.

He also plans to build a hospital that will cater to the medical tourism industry and a resort property.