Gateway Complex

 Araneta City opens Gateway Mall 2

By Earl D C. Bracamonte

The Araneta Group completes its Gateway Square complex with the launch of the new Gateway Mall 2 and the soon-to-open Ibis Styles Manila Hotel in Araneta City. The expansion offers eleven more levels of choices for shopping, dining, entertainment, and leisure in the City of Firsts.

"The new Gateway Mall 2 is an eight-level mall. It has a hundred escalators and ten elevators. It is part of the 35-hectare 'City of Firsts' master plan. We no longer put Cubao in our references. We've set out of the notions of Cubao. This is because of its bad/negative reputation. So we call ourselves Araneta City. The Shopwise area will rise like the Rockefeller Park in New York. In October, Fiesta Carnival will be operational again," shared VP for Leasing Lorna Fabian, during a media tour of the new mall.

The new Gateway Mall 2 enhances Araneta City's breadth and depth with choices in fashion & accessories, recreation & entertainment, health & wellness, and gadgets & gaming from local and international brands in over 400 outlets. It also expands the choices for quick bites, family fare, traditional comfort food, concept restaurants, regional cuisine, and bars & lounges to over 150 dining options.

"Twelve of the eighteen residential buildings were erected by Megaworld. There are more than 8,000 residents therein as of 2022 (and counting). 16.4-million people reach Araneta City via public transportation, especially from the LRT-2 and MRT-3 lines. There are also over 40,000 employees working therein.

"Smart Araneta Coliseum seats 20,000 show goers, while the New Frontier Theater can accommodate 2,385 patrons. So, Araneta City encloses Novotel, Parking Gate South and the cemented basement parking for 3,000 slots, the coliseum, Gateway Tower, the Gateway offices, the soon-to-open Ibis Styles Hotel, as well as Gateway Malls 1 and 2.

"We formally opened the second Gateway mall in September. One of our pride is the 700-sq.m LED Quantum SkyView. It boasts of a remarkable ceiling with a customized wave shape. Positioned above the mall's Upper Ground B, it is the largest activity area in any of the Araneta City malls as it creates a visual spectacle that astounds anyone who sees it," Fabian continued.

The Upper Ground levels are the Luxury Zones. Upper Ground A has shopping and F&B concepts while the Upper Ground B level features global brands and F&B outlets. Level 2 is all about Health & Wellness, Level 3 is the Activetainment area with the Olympic-sized Puyat bowling lanes, Level 4 has the Boquiera, the cineplex with 18 cinemas, and Healing Garden, while Level 5 has the Sensory Garden and the church. Rays from the skylight reflects on the floors in the afternoons.

"There are more 'green' spots and ponds, especially around the Culinary Garden. And the Sagrada Familia Church, that is painted in white, can comfortably seat a thousand church-goers," she said, at the culmination of the tour. His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle presided over the church's inaugural mass and Eucharistic celebration.

In toto, the Gateway Square boasts of a bustling complex with two shopping malls, two office towers, two hotels, a parking building, and a coliseum right at the very heart of Metro Manila. Gateway Malls is a proud member of the International Council of Shopping Centers.