Roadmap to 2030: Robinsons Land to build 12 new malls in next 5 years

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MANILA, Philippines – For Faraday Go, executive vice president of the Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), you don’t have to go that far to see how the regions outside Metro Manila are growing much faster than the Philippines’ capital region. Just see what’s happening in Robinsons Antipolo in Rizal province, around an hour’s drive from the center of Metro Manila.

“We see it [faster regional growth] nationwide. A good example really is [Robinsons Place] Antipolo because, when we expanded the mall, we doubled the size, the foot traffic like tripled already. There’s almost 100,000 people a day there,” Go, also the business unit general manager of Robinsons Malls, told Rappler on Wednesday, May 7.

RLC opened Robinsons Antipolo in 2014, and after expanding it in 2022 or just three years ago, parking started to becoming a problem for the mallgoers in just two years, with not enough space most of the time now, especially during weekends.

This week, Robinsons Antipolo softly opened a new area that will accommodate an additional 1,000 vehicles.

Another fast-growing region is Central Visayas, which registered 7.3% in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2024, higher than the Philippines’ overall GDP of 5.7%. RLC opened the luxurious Mall I in its NUSTAR Resort Cebu in Kawit Island, South Road Properties, in Cebu City in 2023.

Unlike the Sy family’s SM Prime, the Gokongweis’ RLC has historically focused more on building malls in the regions rather than in Metro Manila. It recently opened its 56th mall in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur in southern Philippines. Its premium mall, Opus, in Quezon City, opened in July 2024, which is just its 9th mall in Metro Manila. It opened its first mall, Robinsons Galleria, Quezon City, in 1990.

RLC is so bullish about the growth of Rizal province that it is again expanding its Robinsons Antipolo, in addition to the construction of a Robinsons Mall in RLC’s 18-hectare Sierra Valley Destination Estate in fast-growing Taytay town.

Go told Rappler they plan to start construction of the 6-hectare Robinsons Mall Sierra Valley this year which will take at least 3 years. It will be the biggest mall in the Rizal towns of Cainta and Taytay. Japanese retail giant UNIQLO recently opened a roadside store in Sierra Valley.

RLC’s Robinsons Antipolo expansion phase 2 started this year and is set to open by 2027. Robinsons Mall Sierra Valley, on the other hand, is set for an opening in 2029.

Antipolo City Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares earlier described RLC’s Sierra Valley estate as a “very strategic area” due to its proximity to at least eight big schools, including San Beda University in Taytay; De La Salle College of St. Benilde Antipolo; Ateneo de Manila University and and University of the Philippines-Diliman in Quezon City; Assumption Antipolo; among others.

“Mas magiging madali na an pagbyahe once matapos ang MRT4 na inaasahang magsisimula ang construction sa 2027 ayon sa plano ng DOTr,” Ynares said in a social media post last February 19.

(It will be easier to travel [to Taytay] once the MRT4 is finished, which we expect to start construction in 2027, according to the plan of the Department of Transportation.)

Roadmap to 2030

RLC’s regional focus is going to continue in the next five years as part of RLC’s “Vision 5-25-30,” a roadmap that adopts 5 strategies that the company hopes will deliver P25 billion in net income by RLC’s 50th anniversary in 2030.

Under its expansion and diversification strategy, RLC “targets aggressive expansion, aiming to increase mall GLA (gross leasable area) by 50%, office space by 50%, hotel room keys by 25%, and double logistics capacity by 2030 — all focused on high-growth areas nationwide.” RLC plans to spend P100 billion to P125 billion or around P20 billion to P25 billion yearly on capital expenditures to meet its roadmap targets.

Malls are the most important part of RLC’s business since it delivers the bulk of the company’s earnings. In 2024, RLC’s malls business contributed P17.9 billion in revenues, up 11% from 2023, accounting for 41% of the year’s P42.8 billion in revenues. RLC offices added P7.9 billion or 19%, RLC hotels chipped in P5.9 billion or 14%, and RLC logistics put in P916 million or 3%.

In her presentation during the RLC Annual Stockholders Meeting (ASM) on Wednesday, RLC president and CEO Mybelle Aragon-GoBio, out of 25 new and expansion projects for RLC’s malls business, five are in Metro Manila while 20 are outside the capital region.

In a press conference after the stockholders’ meeting, Aragon-GoBio said RLC is “betting big” on malls since they “provide steady income.”

“Shopping and malling is so engraved in Filipino culture…,” she said. “Malling is really a way of life for Filipinos.”

“Its [malls] not a risk to bet on it. We want to go to other cities where there’s underserved demand,” Aragon GoBio added, citing the high patronage of its newly opened Robinsons Pagadian.

RLC new malls/redevelopment in Metro Manila and its year opening (subject to change)

Opus, Quezon City (opened in July 2024)
Robinsons Manila redevelopment (2025)
Robinsons Bagong Silang Town Square, Caloocan (2026)
The Jewel, Mandaluyong City (2027)
Robinsons Parañaque (2028)

RLC new malls outside Metro Manila from 2025 to 2030 (subject to change)

Robinsons Pagadian (opened April 2025)
Robinsons Malolos Bayan Park, Bulacan (2027)
Robinsons Tanay, Rizal (2028)
Robinsons Gensan Mall 2, General Santos City (2028)
Robinsons Sierra Valley, Taytay, Rizal (2029)
A new mall in South Luzon (2029)
A new mall in North Luzon (2029)
A new mall in Central Luzon (2030)
A new mall in Visayas (2030)
A new mall in Mindanao (2030)

RLC expansion/redevelopment outside Metro Manila, 2025-2030 (subject to change)

Robinsons Bacolod expansion (2025)
Robinsons Dumaguete expansion (2026)
Robinsons Antipolo expansion 2 (2027)
Robinsons Tacloban expansion 3 (2028)
Robinsons Pangasinan expansion (2028)
Robinsons Ormoc expansion (2029)
Robinsons Pagadian expansion (2029)
Robinsons Palawan expansion (2030)
Robinsons Starmills Pampanga expansion (2030)
Robinsons Iligan expansion (2030)

Homebuyers’ preference

Sheila Lobien, CEO of Lobien Realty Group Incorporated, in a recent article, sees the trend of “commercial and residental developments” continuing for Calabarzon (which includes Rizal province) as the region has a “vibrant economy which grew 5.2% in 2023…”

She noted the “preference of homebuyers to go outside Metro Manila, since they are “looking to buy bigger spaces outside NCR (National Capital Region) for the same price that could fetch them small areas in the capital region.”

Another factor she cited was the “intense lockdowns suffered by families during the pandemic,” which “highlighted the need for more residential space that will cater to different activities of the family such as online schooling and work-from-home arrangements, among others.”

Lobien also noted the government’s push to “address overcrowding in Metro Manila by building key transportation infrastructure that will conveniently link NCR to Bulacan and Pampanga in the north and Calabarzon in the south.” – Rappler.com