The University of the Philippines Town Center, commonly known as the U.P. Town Center and abbreviated as UPTC, is a

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, managed by the

Ayala Malls Ayala Malls is a retail subsidiary of real estate company Ayala Land, an affiliate of Ayala Corporation. Founded in 1988, Ayala Malls own a chain of large shopping malls, all located in the Philippines. Ayala Malls is the one of the largest sh ...

group. It opened on September 30, 2013.

Development

Ayala Land Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) is a real estate firm based in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation. It began as a division of Ayala Corporation until it was spun off and incorporated in 1988. It became publicly listed in the Phi ...

secured a 25-year lease contract with the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

to develop the lot which is part of the university's campus to build a shopping mall complex. The lot was the former location of the U.P. Integrated School under the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

. The trees already in the lot were not cut down and 40 percent of the land are designated for open space. The U.P. Town Center has three phases. The first phase is primarily for restaurants and retail stores, which covers . It also hosts a 2-level Timezone arcade. The second phase containing more retail and dining outlets covering a floor plan that was completed by May 2015. The third and last phase which would cover was completed in 2016, containing four cinemas, including one 4DX cinema, offices as well as more retail stores and restaurants, including a 2-storey H&M store.

Architecture

The architectural design and master planning of the U.P. Town Center was done by international architectural firm

Benoy Benoy is an international firm of architects, master planners, interior architects and graphic designers working from design studios in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. The company is primarily known for its glob ...

Facilities and tenants

The U.P. Town Center is marketed as the "first and only university town center" in the

primarily targeting students from universities and other educational institutions along

Katipunan Avenue Katipunan Avenue ( fil, Abenida Katipunan) is a major avenue in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It runs in a north–south direction from the University of the Philippines Diliman, intersecting with Tandang Sora Avenue at its northernmost ...

such as the

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

, and

Miriam College Miriam College ( fil, Dalubhasaang Miriam) is a non-stock, non-profit Filipino Catholic educational institution for girls and young women in Quezon City, Philippines. It offers academic programs from pre-elementary to post-graduate and adult e ...

. Initially, shortly after the first phase of the complex was opened, most of the tenants were restaurants and other dining outlets. In November 2013, there were 30 tenants with 28 of them being dining outlets and only two being retail stores. By this time, Ayala Malls were reportedly prioritizing new restaurant and dining brands over popular fast-food chains and restaurants since many of these brands already have outlets along

. Upon the completion of the second phase, numerous retail brands primarily selling fashion, sports, tech, and stationery goods or services targeting

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the Western demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 20 ...

opened stores at the U.P. Town Center. U.P. Town Center also has a supermarket named Merkado Supermarket. It is a 50-50 joint venture between Ayala and

Puregold Puregold Price Club, Inc. or simply Puregold (stylized as PUREGOLD) is a chain of supermarkets in the Philippines trading goods such as consumer products (canned goods, housewares, toiletries, dry goods, and food products, among others) on a ...

and the outlet in the shopping complex is the first outlet under the brand name.

References

External links

U.P. Town Center Official websiteUP Town Center
at Ayala 360 website * {{University of the Philippines Shopping malls in Quezon City Buildings and structures in Quezon City Shopping malls established in 2013 Ayala Malls University of the Philippines Diliman