SM Aura Premier

SM Aura Premier

View of SM City Aura Premiere - Office Tower
Location	Taguig City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Coordinates	14°32′46″N 121°03′16″E / 14.54622°N 121.05443°ECoordinates: 14°32′46″N 121°03′16″E / 14.54622°N 121.05443°E
Address	26th Street Corner McKinley Parkway Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City Philippines
Opening date	May 17, 2013
Developer	SM Prime Holdings
Management	SM Prime Holdings
Owner	Henry Sy, Sr.
No. of stores and services	300+
No. of anchor tenants	8
Total retail floor area	251,094 sq.m.[1]
Website	sm-aura.com

SM Aura Premier^[2] is an upscale shopping mall located along McKinley Parkway and C5 Road cor. 26th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City^[3] Metro Manila, Philippines, owned by SM Prime Holdings, the country's largest mall developer. It is the 13th SM Supermall in Metro Manila and 47th SM Prime mall in the Philippines. The shopping center is situated near its rival mall Market! Market!, owned by Ayala Malls, a real estate subsidiary of Ayala Land, and affiliate of Ayala Corporation. It is designed by EDGE Interior Designers and Arquitectonica.

Name

The SM Aura name is derived from the two elements gold (which has the chemical symbol Au) and radium.^[4] According to SM Prime the name defines “luxury and elegance that emanates from within.”^[5]

History

The mall had its inaugural blessing on May 16, 2013, a day before the grand opening. Numerous celebrities, government officials including Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, company officials, and VIP guests graced the blessing, including SM Prime's Henry Sy and Hans Sy. Hollywood celebrity Sarah Jessica Parker also graced the blessing.^[6] She also cut the ribbon for The SM Store, as well as being the newest endorser for their "Love to Shop" campaign.^[7][8]

Mall features

Interior of the SM Aura Premier.

The development includes the SkyPark, a multi-level green roof. It has al fresco bars & restaurants, sculptures and botanical gardens, a 1,000-seat performance hall which will called Samsung Hall and the 250-seat Chapel of San Pedro Calungsod.

Designed by Miami-based architectural firm Arquitectonica, the structure will be a basic “dumbbell” arrangement determined by the narrow site, with the main entry at the north corner, and the office tower located at the southern end. The main vehicular drop-off is provided on the western side, with taxi stations on the first basement, accessed from the lower, eastern road.

The high-end mall consists high-end and international fashion brands such as Stuart Weitzman, Joseph (UK), Stefanel, River Island, Bershka, Stradivarius, Uniqlo, Forever 21, Topman, Topshop and formerly had Cesare Paciotti (now closed).

Other tenants are Crate & Barrel, NBA Cafe Manila, Todd English Food Hall Manila and Fitness First Platinum.

SM Aura Office Tower

The mall is connected to a 29-storey office tower which has an area of 40,424 square metres. The SM Aura Office Tower is built according to international green standards, with efficient use of energy and sustainable operation features. ^[9] The Office Tower is also home to one of the largest serviced offices in the Philippines, with 400 seats in a 20,000-square ft. office space.^[10] As part of Bonifacio Civic Center, the tower also houses several government offices such as Social Security System, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG Fund (Home Development Mutual Fund), Philippine Postal Corporation, and Taguig City local government.^[11] With A Corporate Offices As Regent Foods Corp, &, Ezaki Glico International

Controversies

There is a legal battle between the Bases Conversion Development Authority and the SM Aura Premier. The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), in a statement, refuted the claim of SM Prime Holdings Inc. that the controversial SM Aura mall in Taguig City was legally built based on a deed of conveyance (DOC) between the local government and BCDA.^[12]

During his term, former Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tinga initially went into discussions with the Ayala Group on the use of land. “Instead of just building a civic center, it was suggested to intend the property for a mixed use facility to generate funds for the city, [with a] 2,000 to 4,000 square meter space to be appropriated for government offices. City government should also have a percentage on rentals,” the Office of now Congressman SigfridoTinga said in a statement. However, the discussions on land use was carried over to the term of Taguig's current mayor, Ma. Laarni “Lani” Cayetano. “After Tinga's term as mayor, he had no idea anymore on what came out of the talks. SM Aura has started construction during Lani Cayetano's term in 2010 and they issued the occupancy permit to SM,” the office of the congressman said.^[13]

Some members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines criticizes the mall for not showing support to the AFP. Areas in Bonifacio Global City promotes discounts to members of the AFP including veterans but SM Aura Premier doesn't.

See also

• SM Prime Holdings
• SM City North EDSA
• SM City Marikina
• SM City Fairview
• SM Megamall
• SM Mall of Asia
• SM Southmall
• Market! Market!

References

1. (PDF). SM Prime http://www.smprime.com/uploads/DownloadableForms/SEC%2017-A-2013.pdf. Retrieved 23 April 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. "SM PRIME CREATES NEW LANDMARK WITH SM AURA; SETS NEW STANDARD IN GREEN DEVELOPMENT". SM Prime Press Release. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
3. http://www.sm-aura.com/contact-us
4. adobomagazine (May 17, 2013). "Andrew Petch - adoboLIVE: Behind the SM Aura brand". adoboLIVE on YouTube. Sanserif Inc. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
5. "SM now spans 5.9M sq.m.". SunStar Cebu. 2013-05-17. Retrieved 2013-05-18.
6. "Sarah Jessica Parker in Manila for SM Aura Premier opening". BusinessMirror. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
7. "Hollywood star Sarah Jessica Parker attends blessing of The SM Store in Taguig City". Philippine Entertainment Portal. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
8. "Sarah Jessica Parker finds Manila exciting, interesting". Inquirer Lifestyle. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
9. "SM Aura Premier launches Office Tower". Manila Bulletin Online. Retrieved Sep 16, 2014.
10. "KMC Solutions Launches One of the Largest Serviced Offices in the Philippines". PR Newswire. Retrieved Sep 16, 2014.
11. Government Offices at SM Aura Tower http://www.bgcmycity.com/article/viewarticle/article_id/342
12. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/311581/economy/companies/deed-for-sm-aura-construction-misinterpreted-bcda
13. http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/311581/economy/companies/deed-for-sm-aura-construction-misinterpreted-bcda

External links

• Official website of SM Aura Premier