this is what i got from the internet:
Wednesday, October 6, 2004 11:06 PM
Ortigas & Co. OK’s Virra Mall renovation
By CATHY GARCIA
TODAY Senior Reporter
Ortigas & Co. Ltd. will renovate Virra Mall and ban the sale of pirated digital video discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs) at the Greenhills Shopping Center by the start of 2005.
The property development firm of the Ortigas family will allocate P300 million to finance the redevelopment of Virra Mall, the infamous haven for pirated movie DVDs and computer program CDs.
Ortigas & Co. chief operating officer Rex Drilon Wednesday said the company will no longer renew the three-year lease contract with businessman William Uy for Virra Mall which will expire in December.
“We chose not to renew the lease contract. We want to renovate the entire Greenhills complex, and it would be hard if we don’t have full control of the area. We will take over Virra Mall and renovate the entire area,” he said.
Virra Mall, a 22,000 square meter, three-story building located in the Greenhills complex, has become a popular outlet for pirated DVDs, VCDs and CDs that are openly sold in the various stores and stalls in the mall.
Various government antipiracy units have conducted raids at the stores selling pirated discs inside Virra Mall .
Virra Mall has been leased out since 2001 and Ortigas & Co. has not been able to renovate the area which has stuck out like a sore thumb amid the redevelopment of the entire Greenhills Shopping Center.
Ortigas & Co. is expected to close Virra Mall for the renovations that will start next January. The P300-million capital expenditures for the redevelopment are internally generated funds.
The plan is to develop Virra Mall into an IT-hub, where personal computers, laptops and other electronic goods would be sold.
Drilon said there will no more pirated DVDs and CDs to be sold by tenants at the new Virra Mall.
“We want to have a modern Virra Mall. We will have a new name, new shops and definitely no more pirated DVDs,” he said.
The SM Group of companies has already agreed to open five of its stores at the new Virra Mall, namely Toy Kingdom, Watsons, SM Appliance Center, SM Hardware and Our Home.
Phase 1 or ground floor of the new Virra Mall is expected to open in July 2005. The entire shopping area is scheduled to open in November 2005, in time for the Christmas holidays.
The redevelopment of Greenhills Shopping Center, which includes opening of new stores, restaurants, more parking spaces and refurbishments, has resulted in higher revenues and profits for Ortigas & Company.
Overall corporate revenues grew by 12 percent, while net income jumped 8 percent during the January to July period this year.
Regular leasing revenues rose by 23 percent in the first seven months of the year, while revenues from the tiange stalls, which Greenhills is famous for, went up by 15 percent. Since Ortigas & Co. is privately held, the company declined to give specific figures.
from http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/NewsStory...NESS&oid=61041
