Blue Wave-Marikina
Blue Wave-Marikina, also known as Blue Wave at Marquinton, is a mall and office complex in Marikina, Philippines developed by Federal Land, Inc. It sits on a 2 hectares (4.9 acres) site just off the Sumulong Highway, at the northwest corner of the intersection with Mayor Gil Fernando Avenue.[1]
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Mall
[edit]The mall is a three-storey structure.[2] It is located near the Marquinton residences, a medium-rise planned residential community which primarily targets families, in Marikina.[2][3] Despite that location, the mall itself targets a younger, upwardly-mobile customer segment, according to FedLand Brent Retail President Edward Tan.[4] It features a four-screen cinema and a Robinsons Supermarket.[4][5]
Offices
[edit]The Blue Wave-Marikina IT Center is listed as an approved IT Center by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), making export-oriented companies located therein eligible for temporary tax holiday, permanent reduced rate of corporate income tax, and other incentives.[6] Tenants there include the NCO Group, who opened their fourth Philippine call center there in June 2009 with 650 employees.[7][8][9] As of May 2010[update], it is the only FedLand project to have this status, and one of only two in Marikina (the other being Riverbanks Center).[6] However, PEZA also lists FedLand's Blue Wave-Metropolitan Park project in Pasay as an "economic zone being developed".[10]
History
[edit]Blue Wave-Marikina is a follow-on project building on the success of FedLand's earlier Blue Wave-Metropolitan Park strip mall project in Pasay.[4] It opened in August 2005, at a time when there was already a glut of retail space in Metro Manila and vacancy rates were expected to edge as high as 17%; nevertheless, it achieved nearly full occupancy by the month prior to its opening. It was the first new major retail development in Marikina in over a decade. It formed part of a trend at the time of building smaller district and neighbourhood "niche retail" centers, of around 25,000 square metres (270,000 sq ft) in floor area, in response to the overbuilding of larger shopping malls.[2]
Notable events
[edit]In August 2008, an armed robbery occurred at the Metrobank branch on the mall's ground floor.[11] By a few days later, three of the five robbers had been caught. Police stated they were part of the Ampang-Colangco gang, which had committed a number of payroll, bank, and armor van robberies in Metro Manila.[12]
External links
[edit]
Media related to Blue Wave-Marikina at Wikimedia Commons
References
[edit]- ^ Idyllic township soon to rise in Marikina City, Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ a b c Retailers see the potential of FedLand's Blue Wave Mall Archived 12 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Manila Bulletin.
- ^ Federal Land's Marquinton Residences rising fast, Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ a b c Federal Land commercial zone makes waves in Marikina City, Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ A community for raising a family in Marikina Archived 12 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Manila Bulletin.
- ^ a b Philippine Economic Zone Authority: Operating Economic Zones: IT Parks/Centers Archived 21 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NCO Group: Fact Sheet Archived 27 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ US BPO eyes 2 more RP sites Archived 7 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ NCO opens Philippines call center, Philadelphia Business Journal
- ^ Philippine Economic Zone Authority: Economic Zones Being Developed: IT Parks/Centers Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Armed men in military uniform rob Marikina bank Archived 5 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Philippine Daily Inquirer.
- ^ Three of 5 mall robbers identified, The Philippine Star.