Riverbanks Center (also known as Riverbanks Marikina) is a mall and office complex located off of Andres Bonifacio Avenue in Barangay Barangka, Marikina City, Metro Manila, near the Marcos Bridge over the Marikina River.[1][2]
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Riverbanks is located on a 14 hectares (35 acres) site which formerly held a Universal Textile Mills Factory.[3] The Riverbanks Development Corporation acquired the site in 1995.[2] It opened to the public in April 1999.[4]
The self-proclaimed world's largest pair of shoes are on display at Riverbank Center. 5.29 metres (17.4 ft) long and 2.37 metres (7 ft 9 in) wide, equivalent to a French shoe size of 753, they were created over 77 days between August 5 and October 21, 2002 by Marikina City shoe industry businesspeople. The creators attempted to have it certified for the 2004 edition of the Guinness World Records, but due to space limitations the alleged record was not published in the book.[5]
The SM Group's first Savemore market was opened at Riverbanks in 1999.[6] By 2001, the mall had 200 tenants and had completed an expansion of the mall to offer more retail space.[2] The mall's foot traffic grew from 24,000 people per day in 2000 to 51,000 per day (with 63,000 to 70,000 on weekends) in 2001. Later that year, Riverbanks announced another mall extension to house retail businesses which offered 24-hour opening, including fitness centers and convenience stores.[7]
Aside from retailers and restaurants, there are educational facilities in the mall as well. The Philippine Science Centrum, an interactive museum, is located in Building D; it opened in 1990 in Pasay City, but later moved to its present site which was donated by Riverbanks.[8][9] Also in the mall is Kalayaan College, a tertiary facility founded by former University of the Philippines president Jose V. Abueva and other former UP faculty, but it is moved to Quezon City.[10]
Riverbanks Center Towers 1 and 2 are listed as approved IT Centers by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, making export-oriented companies located therein eligible for temporary tax holiday, permanent reduced rate of corporate income tax, and other incentives. As of May 2010[update], it is one of only two developments in Marikina City to have this status, the other being Blue Wave-Marikina IT Center.[1] The first call center to locate in Riverbanks, and by extension the whole of Marikina City, was the NASDAQ-listed ICT Group, who moved in during 2006. ICT already had offices in Makati City and Ortigas Center since 2003 and 2004, respectively.[3] The new ICT office initially employed 1,400 staff.[11]
March 2010 - a fire destroyed a branch of the Mang Inasal chain restaurant located in the mall.[12]