CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga — Premier Central, Inc. (PCI), owner/operator of SM Malls here, will be initially investing some P500 million for the establishment of a tourism-related project near the SM Clark Mall here.

Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and SM City Clark, through PCI, on Wednesday signed here a supplemental lease agreement for the mall’s expansion in a nearby 5.5- hectare area PCI

Under the agreement, PCI will establish and operate a mixed-used facility for office, retail, commercial, leisure, entertainment and hotel, and other tourism-related businesses and projects.

The 50-year lease agreement is expected to generate about 2,000 new jobs with a minimum investment of P500 million. 

CDC President Liberato P. Laus and PCI president Henry Sy Jr., through his representative, PCI Sr. Vice President Jeffrey Lim, led the signing of the lease agreement at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City. 

As stipulated, the minimum guaranteed lease is at US$ 0.30 per square meter per month to start on the third year and to escalate by 10 percent on the eighth year, and every three years thereafter.

The agreement also stated that PCI is entitled to non-payment of lease rentals for a period ‘of two years, known as the grace period, from the signing of the agreement. 

In addition to guaranteeing a minimum investment of P500 million, PCI shall also, on a 'best effort basis,' hire at least 70 percent of its qualified employees from the Central Luzon Region. 

It shall also submit a detailed business development and construction plan within six months from the execution of the agreement. 

In 2003, PCI leased 16.5 hectares, where SM Clark is now located, for 25 years and renewable for another 25 years.
This original agreement provides that would grant PCI within five years the option to lease the adjoining 5.5 hectares that is now covered by the supplemental agreement. 

SM has two sprawling malls in Pampanga — SM City Clark located the main gate of this free port and SM City in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga 。

The new investment by the giant malls firm will further bolster the investment growth at the Clark Freeport Zone which currently stands at about P80 billion, a 600 percent rise from the last year’s level. 

The former American military base, converted from a special economic zone to a Freeport zone last year, has generated more than 50,000 jobs to residents of Pampanga and other parts of Central Luzon.