Victor Agustin
Inquirer News Service

SM HEIRESS Tessie Sy-Coson and the Ortigases of Greenhills have struck up a wide-ranging alliance, making the SM Shoemart retail chain the anchor tenant in the redevelopment of the Ortigases' Virra Mall and C-5 properties.

According to the grapevine, SM Shoemart has agreed to build five of their stand-alone stores-SM Appliances, SM Hardware, SM Furniture, Toy Kingdom, and Watson's, the Hong Kong-based partner apothecary chain -- to occupy one-fourth of what is now the Virra Mall section of the Greenhills Shopping Center.

Landlord Ortigas and Co. plans to close down Virra Mall by January after the holiday rush, tear down and rebuild partitions round the clock, and, hopefully, have the retrofitted mall ready by November, in time for next year's Christmas boom.

Over at the C-5 property, SM has agreed to build a two-hectare SM Hypermart out of the 19-hectare Ortigas lot, bounded by the busy C-5 and Ortigas Avenue.

Left empty for decades, the sprawling corner property has now the makings of a strategic commercial destination with the recent completion of a two-level vehicular overpass, magically untangling the gridlock that for years had tortured motorists crawling through that key intersection.

In addition to the SM Hypermart, Ortigas and Co. plans to construct a total of 12 buildings in the C-5 property and pattern the complex after that of the world-famous Chatuchak bargain market of Bangkok, with thousands of sectionalized stalls and booths selling all kinds of goods.

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