Due to the area's attractive location and its close proximity to entertainment venues, this enticed some businesses that were primarily based in Manila to establish their business at the Araneta Center, in order to expand their respective businesses, such as the SM Cubao, one of the first and the largest SM Department Store in the country, and opened in October 1978; the Rustan's Superstore, designed by Carlos A. Santos-Viola; the National Book Store Superbranch, designed by Rogelio Garcia Villarosa, which opened in 1972, before being upgraded into a 9-storey building in 1982;[4] the New Farmers Plaza Shopping Center, the Marikina Shoe Expo; the Aurora Tower, which was completed in 1984; and the Araneta Center Bus Terminal, which opened in 1993 and became the country's first and oldest integrated bus terminal.

[5][6] As the Araneta Center's glory began to wither in the late 1980s amidst many hurdles, from the massive fire that hit the Farmers Plaza to the company's financial problems, the numerous coups against the Presidency of Corazon Aquino and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Araneta Group struggled to redevelop the area in the 1990s and temporarily halted any property development projects in Cubao and in property investment projects in Makati City until in 1997, as he saw the development of major rail lines, the LRT Line 2 and the MRT Line 3, located adjacent to the complex.

After seeing the potential to revive the complex from its distress, due to the area's location and connectivity to vital areas around Metro Manila, Araneta vowed to finish his father's vision and saw the opportunity of transforming the Araneta Center into a transit-oriented development with a garden city concept and spearheaded the planning of the Araneta Center Redevelopment Plan in 1999–2000, and the program's implementation in 2002, with the construction of the Gateway Mall and its completion in 2004.

[9] As the redevelopment plan continues in full swing, Araneta has also planned to build more properties to the Araneta City, such as the Gateway Mall 3, the Civic Plaza, the Icon tower, an integrated resort with a heritage area, and a 4-tower mixed-use development within Ali Mall.

[5][8][10] In 1964, he married Stella Márquez-Araneta, a Colombian beauty queen who is of Spanish and Polish heritage, at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Peter in Cali, Colombia.