Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Entertainment hub to expand facility, locate in 3 key cities
EVEN before it turned a year old, stakeholders of a local entertainment hub are mulling plans for expansion.
John Paul Chiongbian, president of Dev Asia Corp. (DAC)—Paseo’s holding company—said the bullish tourism industry encouraged them to put up an additional 7,200-square-meter property to expand Paseo.
Paseo, located along F. Cabahug St., Mabolo, Cebu City, sits on a 6,000-square-meter long-term leased property.
Chiongbian said the development in the area will be more horizontal, which means locators have to “build their own store.”
The selling price for each square meter is still under discussions, he added.
Non-competing
In a press interview, Chiongbian said the new locators will be carefully chosen as he assured these will be “non-competing” outlets.
“There will be a family KTV, auto retailing, a photo studio, etcetera,” he said.
In the next three years, he said two additional outlets will open in Cebu. The company is eyeing Talisay City and Lapu-Lapu as potential sites.
He also said plans to expand in the Visayas and Mindanao areas are in the pipeline, with Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Davao as among the key cities being eyed.
The nature of expansion, though, will have to be on partnership basis, Chiongbian said.
“If we open in Davao, we may call it Paseo Davao, for example,” he said.
When the issue of business name registration was raised, as there have been other establishments named Paseo, Chiongbian said “should the need arise,” the company may have to rename it Paseo Cebu to further avoid confusion.
Fusion
Paseo, which began operations in late February this year, is a fusion of food, entertainment and shopping centers.
It caters to 31 food and beverage outlets and 100 night market stalls. The façade features five anchor stores—Off Price, Flame It, Mr. Coffee, RC Goldline and Chillout Spa and Bar.
It can also hold large-scale events, like concerts and entertainment events, since it has a 2,000-seating capacity and accommodates 5,000 people when standing.
