Greenhills (mixed-use development)


Greenhills, formerly and still commonly known as the Greenhills Shopping Center, is a 16-hectare mixed-use shopping, residential and leisure development located in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is owned and managed by Ortigas & Company with a mall complex containing more than 2,000 stores.

History

Conception

In 1966, the plans for building the Greenhills Shopping Center began which followed a two-year study of community development projects in various parts around the world. The concept was presented by Filipino architect Juan Nakpil.

1970s to 1980s

Greenhills, opened in the early 1970s and was among the first shopping centers to be established in the Philippines. The shopping complex housed shopping malls, the Virra Mall and Shoppesville, the Manilabank, PCIB, Padilla, and Crossroads arcades, Greenhills Theater, Greenhills Bowling Alley, and a supermarket by the name of Unimart. All of these facilities were leased out to other companies except the theater. These companies in turn leased out space to small retailers.
In the 1980s, Greenhills was a place to hang out during the weekends, especially for the youth who often frequented the Virra Mall, to shop, watch movies, dine, visit the video arcades and to go to hobby stores at Shoppesville. Music Hall and Annapolis Live is also frequented. Later tiangges or small stalls began to sprout in Greenhills. They started out in annual bazaars during the Christmas season and eventually increased in numbers and their operations became all-year-round.

Redevelopment

Most of the lease were expired by 2002, and most of the companies which the facilities were leased to did not make any significant improvements or renovations since their lease contracts were about to expire. Greenhills lost tenants and visitors as other shopping centers opened in other parts of Metro Manila. Ortigas & Company, initially planned to sell the complex but decided against it and started to redevelop the complex themselves. A new management team was set up in late 2001 to facilitate the complex's redevelopment.
Among the first redevelopments was the renovation of the Greenhills Theater into the Greenhills Theatre Mall. The Greenhills Theatre Mall was reopened to the public on January 27, 2002. Previously the facility which houses two theaters, had fallen to near-disuse, occasionally opening only for special event of corporations and Christian fellowships.
The Virra Mall was also renovated from January to December 2005. The former Virra Mall, built in 1975 and sculptural design done by architect José María Zaragoza, was demolished in January 2005.
Another redevelopment project composed of two phase costing around was started in 2010. The first phase was completed in 2013, with the introduction of more parking and retail space, cinemas and The Viridian, a 53-storey residential condominium, with turnover to residents made in April 2016. The new relocated Unimart, occupying the first two levels of the new Greenhills Carpark Building built next to the one-storey Unimart site, opened on July 2, 2017. The latter is now the site of the expansion of Greenhills' Main Mall.
The Annapolis carpark has been demolished to give way for the construction of The Connor, its 2nd residential tower in the complex. V-Mall's foodcourt has been closed and is now converted into a new zone with restaurants.

Expansion of main mall

A new 7-level integrated regional mall with a hybrid lifestyle and budget retail format, rising at the former Unimart building, will be built to accommodate 150 global brands in addition to 2,000 new tiangge stalls. The new mall will play host to six new cinemas in addition to eight digital cinemas at Greenhills Promenade and two new foodcourts. It will have 3 levels of basement parking with 1,300 slots.

Visitors

Greenhills has been a destination for bargain hunters since the 1970s. In 2003, it is reported that around 90,000 people a day visited the shopping complex who stays a few hours to shop and eat. About of 80 percent of these shoppers are from 15–39 years old, over a half belongs to the higher to middle class, particularly from socioeconomic class A, B, and C, and more than half were women.

Tenants

Around 2,000 entrepreneurs have stalls and shops within the complex's tiangge or flea market in 2003. On the same year, it is reported that an estimate of 90 percent of all South Sea pearls in the country go through Greenhills with a dedicated Pearl Center within the complex. Most of the pearl traders during this period comes from Marawi, Lanao del Sur in Mindanao. Among the other goods sold within the complex are furniture and clothing.
Major retailers in the country, Bayo, Kamiseta, Bench, Ricky Reyes, Folded & Hung, Gift Gate, Odyssey, Alberto, Astro Vision, Plains & Prints and Celine started as small shops in Greenhills. In addition to this, major food players Jollibee, KFC, Mcdonald's Mang Inasal and many other well known food franchise thrive in the area.

Religious facilities

The complex houses a Catholic chapel and a Muslim musallah or prayer room in front of the OB Montessori School and Club Filipino.
Previously, Filipino Muslim traders used a dimly lit service alley between UniMart and the old Virra Mall as a musallah or prayer room. The current Masjid Greenhills, which was opened in early 2005 after some controversy with residents of nearby gated communities who are concerned that the feature would attract criminals and lower property value, can now accommodate around 300 worshipers, and is flanked by a travel agency and a restaurant serving Maranao cuisine. Victory opened a branch at the fourth floor of Virra Mall.

Incidents