Araneta City


The Araneta City, formerly Araneta Center, is a 35-hectare commercial mixed-use area situated in Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is located between Epifanio de los Santos Avenue and Aurora Boulevard and hosts the stations of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System Line 3 and the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2.
ACI, Inc., a company of the Araneta Group, is the developer, owner, and manager of the commercial area. The area hosts over 1 Million people daily.

History

The property where the Araneta City, formerly named Araneta Center, is located in Quezon City, and was purchased by J. Amado Araneta in 1952, after the family's mansion in Taft Avenue, Manila was destroyed during the Battle of Manila in 1945. The land stood on bedrock, and has an elevation level of 43 meters, which is the highest point of the Metro Manila, located between Highway 54, Aurora Boulevard, P. Tuazon Boulevard, and 15th Avenue. As of 1959, the area was remote and located in an area designated for suburban mass housing and frequented by Hukbalahap rebels. The original owner of the property was the Radio Corporation of America. Initially, Araneta has purchased only of land from RCA and built his residence in 1953 which would become known as "Bahay na Puti". It was in 1955 that Araneta purchased the remaining from the RCA.
In 1956, Araneta sold a portion of the property to the Philippine National Bank which proceeded to set up a branch in the area. On the same year, the first Aguinaldo Department Store, a well-known retailer established its first branch beyond Manila. Araneta's Progressive Development Corporation relocated its offices from Plaza Cervantes in Binondo, Manila to the Araneta Enterprise Building along Aurora Avenue. PDC would be tasked to develop the Araneta Coliseum.
There was rapid development following the opening of the Araneta Coliseum in 1960. From the 1960s until the 1980s, there was a construction boom around the complex, with the creation of the first strip mall in the country composed of 147 stores, located along Aurora Boulevard, and the creation of Ali Mall, SM Cubao, Fiesta Carnival, Plaza Fair, New Frontier Theater, COD Department Store, Matsuzakaya Department Store and Matsuzakaya House, Uniwide Cubao, Farmers Plaza, Farmer's Market, and the Aurora Tower. The developments around the complex caused the area to prosper over the years and competed with other business districts in the Metro, such as Manila, the Makati Central Business District, the Greenhills Center, and the Ortigas Center.
The Araneta City and the surrounding areas also served as the home of many movie theaters such as the Nation Cinerama, Quezon Theater, Cinema 21, Sampaguita Theater, ACT Theater, Ocean Theater, Diamond Theater, Remar Theater, Alta Cinema, and Coronet Theater. Many of these establishments however have been closed by the start of the 2000s with the buildings either repurposed for commercial purposes or demolished to give way to future developments due to the introduction of home entertainment system and the creation of in-house movie theaters inside the shopping malls in the area that led to lesser patronage to these movie theaters. The area around the city also serves as a transport terminal for jeepneys and provincial buses serving nearby cities and provincial areas around the country.
With the ambition of regaining its former glory, and as the infrastructure around the area improved, a 20-year redevelopment project, known as the Araneta Center Master Plan, was unveiled in 2002, with an estimated budget of over ₱80 Billion, led by J. Amado's son, Jorge L. Araneta. The first phase, totalling over ₱30 billion was started with the construction of the Gateway Mall, a major renovation of the Araneta Coliseum as well as the rehabilitation of the New Frontier Theater. Also included in the redevelopment project is the renovations of Shopwise, Farmers Plaza, Ali Mall, and SM Cubao, and the construction of the Manhattan Gardens, the Novotel Manila Araneta City, the Gateway Tower, the Araneta City Cyberpark Tower 1 and Tower 2, and the Gateway Mall 2 and Ibis Styles Araneta City.
The second phase, totaling over ₱50 Billion will include the development of 3 additional Cyberpark Towers; the Gateway Mall 3; the City Plaza, a, 5-tower, 60 storey Mixed-use development featuring a 4-star hotel, premium grade offices, luxury residential towers, and retail, including the "Spanish Steps", the Civic center, and the Icon Tower, connected from the Manhattan Plaza; and an Integrated resort consisting hotels, dining, entertainment, gaming, conventions and conferences, luxurious retail shops and a heritage area located along EDSA. The overall redevelopment master-plan covers square meters of gross floor area set within the target completion by 2030.
On September 24, 2019, the Araneta Center was renamed as Araneta City after a brand relaunch.

Facilities and tenants

The Araneta City hosts numerous shopping establishments, notably Ali Mall, Farmers Plaza, and Gateway Mall. Also located in the area is the National Book Store Superbranch, one of the largest branch of the office-supplies store chain in the Philippines, the Farmer's Market, and the Cubao Expo.
The Aurora Tower is a 22-storey, mixed-use tower with office and penthouse spaces completed in 1984, with Isetann occupying its first 7 floors. It is also the former Headquarters of the Araneta Group, and now currently have local companies as tenants occupying the upper levels of the building. The Aurora Tower is also the home of the Consulate of Colombia and the Colombian Embassy.
The Araneta City is also a business center with the Gateway Tower and Araneta City Cyberpark serving as the office and business centers with many international and local companies, especially Business Process Outsourcing companies, as well as a branch of the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company occupying these mixed-use buildings. The city also houses the Manhattan Gardens, a 4-phase, 9,000 unit, 18-tower residential project, serving as the first transit-oriented residential development in the country. There are also other commercial buildings surrounding the City including buildings occupied by Puregold, Dreamworld Hotel, Savemore Market, and the Vivaldi Residences Cubao, housing Eurotel on its first floors.
The Araneta City is also host of some of Metro Manila's major event venues, the Smart Araneta Coliseum, a 20,000 seater indoor arena, along with the 2,385-seater New Frontier Theater, and also houses the Novotel Manila Araneta City, a 401-room, mid-scale hotel. The city offers 7,000 parking spaces, including parking spaces from the Araneta City Parking Garage South, a green parking building capable of storing 1,500 vehicles.
The Araneta Mansion, the official residence of the Araneta family, also known as the White House is also located within the Araneta City, occupying the southwest corner of the city. The mansion hosted many guests guests, such as Muhammad Ali, Juan Manuel Santos, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Julio Iglesias, among many others, and features approximately 300 chicken dens on the mansion's western side for cockfighting and fowl breeding purposes.

Transportation

Two elevated rail stations serve the area; the Metro Rail Transit System and Light Rail Transit System Araneta Center-Cubao stations. It also serves as a terminal for jeepneys and UV Express vehicles serving the nearby areas of Quezon City, Marikina, Rizal Province, Manila, Eastern Pasig, Northern Caloocan, and San Juan, as well as two bus terminals, the Araneta City Bus Terminal and the Araneta City Busport, servicing the passengers going to the Southern Luzon, Bicol Provinces and Visayan Provinces.
Araneta also offers the UBE Express Premium Point-to-Point Airport Bus Service from the Araneta City to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, as well as a free E-shuttle services from Ali Mall, up to the Line 2 Araneta Center-Cubao Station-Gateway Mall Concourse.