Gaisano opens Cebu mall, bares projects in VisMin

The Gaisano Capital Group has opened its second mixed-use development with a  mall in Cebu while planning a similar project in Iloilo.

The City SOHO Mall, a 31-story building located across Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, has retail, commercial and residential components as well as space for medical clinics.

A third mixed-use, township project in Iloilo, to be called the Iloilo City Center, will be rolled out in 2016, said corporate mall administrator Hermosilla Irizari.

The group will also open Gaisano Capital branches in Butuan and Sorsogon next year. Two other stores, in Tandag City and Bislig City in Surigao del Sur, are slated to open by the end of 2015.

Irizari said the new City SOHO Mall in Cebu has 134 residential units, 50 commercial offices and 175 clinic spaces.

“We also plan to put up a hotel but this is still in the planning stage,” she said. The hotel and penthouse are slated for development between the last quarter of 2016 and the first quarter of 2017.

City SOHO is Gaisano Capital’s second venture in mixed-use projects, the first being One Pavilion Place.

Only 10 percent of the leasable units are available, Irizari said. The rest are occupied, with some tenants expected to open for business in the next three months.

The basement, ground floor and second floor of the 31-story establishment are allotted for retail spaces, including a Gaisano Capital Supermarket, small food shops, a food court and special service shops. Notable food shops include Pitstop, Zubuchon, Pan de Manila, Let’s Egg It On and The Original Jamaican Pattie. On the upper floors are parking spaces, residential and condominium spaces, office units and medical clinics. The parking spaces are found at Basement 2 and in the 3rd to 6th floors.

Amenities for the residential condominium unit owners, such as a swimming pool, a gym, function and game rooms, are located on the 7th floor.

On the 8th floor are conference rooms, office spaces and showrooms. More office spaces and the medical clinics are located on the 9th to 20th floors.

The residential condominium units are on the 21st to 27th floors, while the 28th floor is slated for the hotel and penthouse. On the 29th floor is the building’s roof-deck.

Asked why they decided on a mixed-use development, Irizari said the area is an ideal location for such a project. “It’s the accessibility. Everything converges. It’s near government offices, hospitals and workspaces. It’s a very strategic location for the mall,” she said.