The upcoming year is seen to have more focus on transactional and experiential service for the retail sector.
According to a Colliers report, with rising interest in the Philippine retail landscape, the entry of more anchor tenants in major regional and super-regional malls across the capital region is expected. Foreign players are also becoming aggressive in taking up physical mall space.
Immersive concepts, such as SM Fairview’s Fantasy World, the Philippines’ largest indoor amusement park that recently opened in a 3,000-sq metre (32,300 sq feet) space, aim to attract more foot traffic.
Other experiential retail brands that opened are Space & Time Cube+ in S Maison and Science XPdition in Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
The report added that major developers have been renovating their existing retail spaces, including SM Megamall, SM East Ortigas, Robinsons Forum, Filinvest Mimosa Mall, Power Plant Malls in Bacolod and Pampanga by Rockwell Land, Megaworld’s The Upper East Mall in Bacolod, Ayala Malls Abreeza expansion, and the redevelopment of Ayala Center Cebu and Robinsons Bacolod.
Ayala Land, meanwhile, is setting aside P13 billion to redevelop Glorietta and Greenbelt 2, Trinoma and Ayala Center in Cebu.
Residential
The Colliers report added that 2025 will see a modified launch of condominiums given the unsold RFO units. As of Q3 2024, Colliers data showed that unsold inventory in Metro Manila reached 75,300 units (covering pre-selling and ready for occupancy or RFO). The submarkets with high levels of unsold RFO units include Pasig City, Quezon City South, Parañaque, Manila North, Makati Fringe and Quezon City North.
Hotels
Foreign hotels to launch in the coming year are brands from Sheraton, InterContinental Hotels, Dusit Thani, Citadines, Tryp by Wyndham and AppleOne’s JW Marriott in Panglao, Bohol.
Office spaces
More demand for sustained office space particularly in Pampanga, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo and Davao is seen in 2025.
“It’s a mixed bag for the Philippine property in 2024. While we saw sustained recovery for retail, hotel, and industrial segments, we continue to see setbacks for office and residential. Unabsorbed office and residential stock still linger, and developers should be more cautious of their new launches moving forward. Know your demand before you expand,” Joey Roi Bondoc, director for research of Colliers Philippines, said.