SM Harrison Plaza opening by end-2027 with entire floor for Gen Z
MANILA, Philippines – Harrison Plaza’s comeback is getting a Gen Z plot twist.
When the old Manila icon returns as SM Harrison Plaza by the end of 2027, an entire floor will be dedicated to young customers, SM Supermalls president Steven Tan told reporters on Thursday, September 10.
“One single floor, the whole floor will be dedicated for the youth,” Tan said in an ambush interview. “Because of the proximity to all the schools. La Salle is just next door, St. Scho, and there’s a lot of schools nearby.”
“We know that it’s going to be their hangout place. So we’re preparing for that,” he added, also confirming that the mall is set to open by the end of 2027.
The original Harrison Plaza was itself a landmark of Philippine mall culture. Opened in 1976, the complex spent more than four decades in Manila before shutting down on December 31, 2019. (Fast Facts: Harrison Plaza)
SM Prime Holdings later took over the seven-hectare property near the Manila Zoo, Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Its location is also within walking distance of several schools, including De La Salle University, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, St. Scholastica’s College, Arellano University, and, a little farther along Taft, Philippine Women’s University.
The company previously announced that it would invest more than P6 billion to redevelop the site into a roughly 200,000-square-meter mixed-use retail and lifestyle hub, with nature-inspired architecture, open layouts, green areas, and community spaces.
Inspired by Chinese malls
What exactly does a whole Gen Z floor look like? SM has not unveiled the tenant lineup or final plans for Harrison Plaza yet, but Tan did hint to what inspired their design choice: China.
SM is preparing to open the first phase of Chao Block at SM Xiamen City in Xiamen, China, by the end of September. The youth-oriented development is an extension of SM Prime’s first mall outside the Philippines and is designed to be deliberately different from the usual mall expansion.
“We have been doing expanding malls over and over again. There’s nothing new,” Tan said. “We wanted to bring in some fresh ideas and some new ideas to the market.”
Instead of filling the space with the usual mainstream brands, Chao Block will feature streetwear labels, one-off restaurants and cafés, a DJ booth and stage, a space where content creators can shoot TikTok videos and dance, and even a skateboard park.
“It has so much youth energy,” Tan said. “These are something that the youth are looking for.”
Tan had actually teased the idea earlier during a fireside chat, where he said SM has been looking overseas for ideas on how malls are evolving, particularly in China, where the Sy family already operates several malls. (READ: Dear You, and the stories of love and migration the Filipino-Chinese pass down)
“We are also quite lucky because we have gone to China because we have malls there. And we all know that China is very advanced when it comes to retail and mall development,” Tan said.
He described Chao Block as a “non-standard mall,” or a concept that deliberately departs from the usual mall formula.
“That is not your ordinary mall,” he said. “Meaning, it’s not your usual mall. So we learn from that. We also do a lot of market research, not just here in the Philippines but global.”
Asked during the fireside chat whether SM planned to bring something similar to the Philippines, Tan initially kept the details to himself.
“Yes. I will tell you when the time comes where we will do that,” he said.
The time, apparently, came shortly after the program ended. In an ambush interview, Tan told Rappler that SM plans to bring ideas from Chao Block to the Philippines through Harrison Plaza, where an entire floor will be dedicated to younger customers.
The Chao Block concept is also part of SM’s broader push to make malls less about simply shopping and more about giving people reasons to stay. That has meant investing in spaces that don’t necessarily revolve around buying something. SM Aura, for instance, is adding tennis courts and a library. SM Nuvali, set to open on November 27, will feature a 1-hectare indoor garden. – Rappler.com
![[READOUT] How malls are still growing despite a cautious Filipino consumer](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2026/09/How-malls-are-still-growing-despite-a-cautious-Filipino-consumer-1.jpg?fit=449%2C449)
