DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 April) — Seven months after fire destroyed its mall in Ma-a, the management of the New City Commercial Corporation (NCCC) will open in July 2018 its new mall in Buhangin, a project started in September 2016.
Thea Septann Padua, NCCC public relations manager, said most of the tenants in the NCCC Mall Davao, the 14-year old four-story mall destroyed by fire on December 23, 2017, will be accommodated in the NCCC Mall Buhangin, a four-story building that features state of the art technology, including a centralized system that will allow management to detect any emergency to prevent a repeat of a similar tragedy.
Thirty eight workers were killed in the fire, 37 of them from SSI (Survey Sampling International) business processing outsourcing (BPO) firm and one mall employee who helped rescue trapped SSI workers.
Perspective of four-story NCCC Mall Buhangin. The new mall will open last week of July 2018. Photo courtesy of Thea Septann S. Padua)\
Unlike its first mall, Padua said NCCC Mall Buhangin will not have a BPO company as tenant.
Padua said the new mall will have four cinemas, each sporting “the latest Dolby Atmos Sound Technology with a 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system and XPand 3D,” the first and only in Mindanao.
It will have a centralized system that allows management to detect any emergency to prevent a repeat of the deadly fire, she said.
Slated to open last week of July 2018, the new mall is expected to generate around 1,500 to 2,000 jobs, Padua said.
She told MindaNews that the company poured in almost P1 billion for this newest mall that will house 85 tenants, comprising a mixture of high-end and local brands.
“More than just a mall”
The company broke ground for this upscale retail and commercial development on September 24, 2016 on a nearly one-hectare property along Km. 7, Tigatto Road, Barangay Buhangin.
“More than just a mall, NCCC Mall Buhangin will provide a social setting that makes the whole development special beyond glass, mortar, steel and stone – a place where people can enjoy and conveniently do what they want and need as part of their daily routine, make new memories and most importantly, spend quality time with their loved ones,” Padua said.
This would have been the homegrown company’s second in the city and fourth in the country after NCCC Mall Davao in Ma-a district here, NCCC Mall Tagum, and NCCC Mall Puerto Princesa.
Designed by architecture firm Asya Design, NCCC Mall Buhangin will showcase an al fresco garden area/roof deck on the fourth floor, a “highly-efficient airconditioning system that generates more airflow but less noise, skylights that let in natural lighting and the use of volatile organic compound paint which is less toxic.”
Redevelop Ma-a mall
Padua added the company has a plan to redevelop the mall in Maa.
“Yes, we will redevelop it. We’re still waiting for the report (from Interagency Anti-Arson Task Force) so we can start the demolition,” she said.
The task force, comprising representatives from the Department of Interior and Local Government, BFP, National Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 11, completed the report in March 2018.
Emergency personnel respond to a fire that broke out on the 3rd floor of the NCCC Mall in Ma-a, Davao City on 23 December 2017. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
Fire Supt. Jerry Candido, task force deputy team leader and spokesperson, said criminal complaints will be filed against against the management of the NCCC Mall Davao, SSI, Rockfort Construction Company, and officials from Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Davao, Philippine Economic Zone Authority and City Building Office for the December 23 fire.
The City Building Office issued NCCC management a permit for demolition on February 20. The permit stated the demolition will commence only after the building has been “vacated and all utility lines such as electric, gas, telephone and water installations have been disconnected.”
The permit requires the mall management to complete the demolition within a period of 30 days from the starting date. It requires the management to inform the city government five days prior to the demolition.
Padua said there is still no schedule of the demolition, as they are still waiting for a copy of the task force’s report. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
