[3] In 1966, the plans for building the Greenhills Shopping Center began which followed a two-year study of community development projects in various parts around the world.

[5] In the 1980s, Greenhills was a place to hang out during the weekends, especially for the youth who often frequented the Virra Mall, to shop, watch movies, dine, visit the video arcades and to go to hobby stores at Shoppesville.

[8] Previously the facility which houses two theaters, had fallen to near-disuse, occasionally opening only for special event of corporations and Christian fellowships.

[10] The former Virra Mall, built in 1975 and sculptural design done by architect José María Zaragoza, was demolished in January 2005[11] and was reopened in May 2006 as V-Mall.

The renovation also resulted in the entry of SM-operated stores such as Ace Hardware, Watsons, and Toy Kingdom, as well as an expansion of the Chapel of the Holy Family.

The first phase was completed in 2013, with the introduction of more parking and retail space, cinemas and The Viridian, a 53-storey residential condominium, with turnover to residents made in April 2016.

[7] Major retailers in the country, Bayo, Kamiseta, Bench, Ricky Reyes, Folded & Hung, Gift Gate, Odyssey, Alberto, Astro Vision, Plains & Prints and Celine started as small shops in Greenhills.

[7] A majority of the tenants at the Greenhills Shopping Center are Filipino Muslims of Maranao ethnicity, mainly as refugees of the Moro conflict in Mindanao.

It is listed by the United States Trade Representative as a "notorious counterfeit market" although the management along with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines has been coordinating with store owners to have the label removed by 2027.

Originally, the lack of a dedicated musalla (prayer room) left Muslim tenants no choice but to pray their Salah within their stalls.

This was until 1992, when Ortigas and Company granted the GMTA's request for a place of worship within the shopping center, as they were provided a prayer space in between Virra Mall, the Chapel of the Holy Family, and the Unimart supermarket.

[24][2] In 2004, Ortigas and Company opened the Annapolis Carpark, a four-storey parking building along the on the west side of the shopping center.

This was followed a year later by the opening of the Greenhills Masjid, a 400 to 500 m2 (4,300 to 5,400 sq ft) fully air-conditioned musalla on the ground floor of the building.

[25][18] According to the GMTA, as of 2016, the Greenhills Masjid is the biggest and only air-conditioned Muslim prayer area enclosed in a shopping mall in the country.

[26] In the early 2000s, the construction of the Greenhills Masjid initially drew controversy from residents and homeowner associations of the adjacent Greenhills subdivisions due to fears and allegations that the Masjid would "attract gangs and terrorists" and lower property values, with residents threatening to boycott the shopping center if the project continued.

One of the homeowner associations had also written San Juan mayor JV Ejercito a letter demanding him to stop the project.