ANALYSIS: Did Ayala Land’s mall makeovers work? The numbers say yes, so far

The focus now shifts to long-term performance and sustained growth.

Ayala Land’s big mall makeover has reached an important point. After spending the past two years reinventing four of its flagship shopping centers, the developer now has some numbers showing whether the investment is translating into better business.

So far, the answer looks positive.

Ayala Land Inc. said its shopping center portfolio reached a 90% lease-out rate at the end of June, up from 87% a year earlier. Same-mall revenues rose 7% in the first half of 2026, while visitor foot traffic increased 5%. Mall EBITDA margin remained at a healthy 61%.

Those figures are useful because they go beyond how the malls look after their renovations. They show how the upgraded spaces are performing as commercial properties.

The reinvention program began in 2024 at Glorietta, Greenbelt, TriNoma and Ayala Center Cebu. With the physical work substantially completed, Ayala Land is now moving into the next phase, which focuses more on occupancy, tenant performance and making better use of the upgraded spaces.

A mall renovation only becomes a business success when the investment eventually produces stronger rents, sales and occupancy.

Ayala Land has previously said it expects newly renovated spaces to generate a 15% to 20% uplift in rents once they stabilize. The company also said the full benefits of the reinventions could take two to three years to emerge, making the first-half 2026 figures more of an early read than a final scorecard.

Ayala Land is preparing reinvention projects at Abreeza in Davao City, MarQuee in Angeles City, Fairview Terraces in Quezon City and Cloverleaf in Quezon City. At the same time, it is adding new retail space, with more than 200,000 square meters of mall gross leasable area expected to come online this year.

That puts two parts of the retail strategy in motion at the same time: making existing malls more productive while expanding the portfolio.

For now, the numbers suggest the first wave of reinvention is heading in the right direction. The more interesting part will be watching whether the gains in occupancy, revenue and foot traffic continue as the upgraded malls mature—and whether the same approach produces similar results across the next batch of properties.

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