Latest developments elevate the City of Firsts with unparalleled shopping, dining, and entertainment offerings—‘like no other mall in the world’
The Araneta Group completes the Gateway Square complex with the launch of its final two components: the New Gateway Mall 2 and ibis Styles Manila Araneta City.
The P5-billion new mall, the much-awaited expansion of Araneta City’s flagship retail development, covers more than 100,000 sqm over 11 levels of additional, exciting new choices for shopping, dining, entertainment, and leisure.
“The New Gateway Mall 2 promises to be like no other mall in the world,” says Lorna Fabian, VP for Leasing of the Araneta Group. “This is the latest in our ongoing efforts to keep providing more memorable firsts in the City of Firsts.”
Meanwhile, ibis Styles Manila Araneta City, the first hotel under the ibis Styles brand in the Philippines, is also expected to open very soon. Situated adjacent to the New Gateway Mall 2, the P2-billion hotel will be operated by international hospitality brand AccorHotels, the same company that manages Novotel Manila Araneta City. It will have almost 300 guest rooms and six function rooms for meetings and conferences, while its roof deck will feature an overhanging swimming pool and a bar that overlook the Metro Manila skyline and the stunning Manila Bay sunset.
These two developments complete the 400,000-sqm mixed-use Gateway Square superblock which already includes the Gateway Mall, Gateway Office, Gateway Tower, Novotel Manila, the iconic Smart Araneta Coliseum, and the Parking Garage South Building.
The New Gateway Mall 2 enhances Araneta City’s breadth and depth of choices in fashion and accessories, recreation and entertainment, health and wellness, and gadgets and gaming from local and international brands with over 400 outlets. It also expands the choices for quick bites, family fare, traditional comfort food, concept restaurants, regional cuisine, and bars and lounges to over 150 dining options, making it an adventure for food lovers. Dedicated zones such as the Restaurant Collection, Coliseum Plaza, and Palenque by Claude Tayag will highlight some of the best dining choices such as a mano, Mamou, Grace Park, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, Shake Shack, Abe, Tung Lok Seafood, Manam, Boteyju, Burgoo, Classic Savory, Vikings, Tim Ho Wan, and a lot more.
Other mall features include the 1,000-capacity Sagrada Familia Church on the roof deck, with a design inspired by a miter, the traditional headwear of bishops. Additional cues are provided by The Oculus in Manhattan, New York City, with the all-white structure featuring a high ceiling, glass panels, and stained-glass windows.
There are also two gardens—the Sensory Garden and the Culinary Garden—and The Lagoon, which offers a relaxing ambiance for mallgoers. Plus, there is the 3,700-sqm Shopwise International Grocery Shopping, and the Quantum Skyview that features the country’s first ceiling-mounted LED display for various activities and events, such as recent K-pop fan meetings, book launches, and the 2023 PPOP Manila Convention. All these can be found in one establishment that connects with MRT and LRT stations and straddles the Big Dome, Gateway offices, the Novotel and ibis Styles hotels, Gateway shopping, and parking facilities.
The public can access the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum through doorways located inside the new establishment. This makes the New Gateway Mall 2 the only mall in the country that is directly connected to an indoor arena.
“Opening the New Gateway Mall 2 reinforces Araneta City’s commitment to its pioneering legacy in commercial development,” said Rowell Recinto, chairman of the management committee.
With these new developments, Araneta City’s Gateway Square is expected to provide more opportunities for a break from the routine. The superblock will have a total of 18 cinemas with VIP lounges and over 3,000 parking spaces, and convenient links to attractions such as the air-conditioned indoor floating garden The Oasis, the open-air Topiary Park, and the arts sanctuary Gateway Gallery.
In all, the Gateway Square will soon boast 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.
“These new properties revitalize the integrated Gateway Square—a development that offers opportunities for an experience you can personalize yourself in a thoroughly modern and contemporary environment,” Fabian said.
