Construction Update on SM Seaside Arena & SMX Convention Center CEBU | JULY 2024

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SM Seaside Arena is a multipurpose indoor arena that as of 2024 is under construction in South Road Properties, Cebu City, Philippines. The arena, located adjacent to the SM Seaside City complex, is estimated to have a 16,000-seating capacity and, once completed, will be the largest indoor arena in Cebu.
The construction of SM Seaside City Arena and SMX Convention Center Cebu – which will be larger than their counterparts in Manila – is on track for opening in 2025 and late 2026 respectively, after several delays.

Located in South Road Properties (SRP), where the SM Seaside City Mall currently stands, SMX Convention Center Cebu will have a total floor area of 52,000m2, compared with SMX Convention Center Manila’s 35,000m2, said Mike Albaña, SMX Convention Center vice president and general manager.
SMX Cebu will have three levels; four exhibition halls will be on the ground level, while the smaller function rooms will be on the second and third levels.

Adjacent to SMX Cebu is the SM Seaside City Arena, an indoor multipurpose venue that will have 16,000 seats, compared to the 15,000 seats in SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila.

These two developments, Albaña shared, billed as the largest business events facilities in Cebu, will also have two hotels. Currently, there is an existing Radisson Blu Hotel located next to SM Seaside City Mall.

Earlier in April, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. announced that as part of the franchise deal with Radisson Hotel Groups for 14 new hotels over the next five years, the first of these new properties will be the 516-key dual-brand hotel, Radisson and Park Inn by Radisson. Both are slated to open in 2027 as part of the bigger SMX Cebu and SM Seaside Arena.
First proposed in 2013, the arena is planned to be a venue for local and international concerts, sports events, international conventions, and as the venue of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) and some select Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games. The arena was also one of the proposed venues for the failed Philippine bid for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

In January 2017, reports emerged that developer SM Prime Holdings had canceled its plans to build the arena. However, plans for the arena resumed in late 2019, with the arena, instead of being within the SM Seaside complex, now placed within South Coast City, an adjacent mixed-use development co-owned by SM Prime with Ayala Land