Davao City’s iconic shopping mall is just about to spring back to life.
Gutted down by fire in 2017, the immensely popular NCCC Mall Davao owned by the NCCC Group of Companies is projected to re-open by the end of 2024.
The topping-off ceremony of the NCCC Mall Davao project on Wednesday morning signifies that all the structural works of the Ma-a mall have been completed and is targeting to open its doors to the public by December 2024.
NCCC Mall Maa has a gross floor area of approximately 57,044.01 square meters and a total gross leasable area of approximately 38,574.40 sqm, which will house retailers, recreational facilities, food courts, and anchor brands.
“The supermarket is ready na. After this, yung Phase 2 na ang gagawin, interior, and fit-out works. We will open in time for Christmas as well as the department store in December 2024. The ground floor and the second floor should be also good to go as well as all the tenants. A lot of Dabawenyos are clamoring for this to open,” said Sharlene Lim, NCCC Malls president, in an interview.
Lafayette Lim, CEO and president of the NCCC Group of Companies, shared that they opted to open the mall in December which was also the same month when the first NCCC supermarket and department store in Ramon Magsaysay in Uyanguren was opened on December 1, 1978.
“As much as possible we want to keep our anniversary close to that date,” he said.
The four-storey mall plus a level parking basement, will carry amenities that will give comfort to the customer such as three passenger lift lobbies, four passenger elevators, four service elevators, 15 sets of escalators, and one set of walkalators.
Apart from the expansive atrium, the mall will also carry the biggest recreational and entertainment facility in Mindanao namely Play Planet with over 1,000 sqm of interactive and educational playground, play simulations, and arcade.
The roof deck or The Nook will provide a view of Davao’s skyline, Alfresco softscape garden, food court, cafes, chapel, and dog park.
“Rebuilding NCCC Mall Davao, now named NCCC Mall Maa, is a must for us. It symbolizes our commitment to this city, our tenants, and our customers. Moving forward from every challenge, it is a flight of hope as soar again after hovering with broken wings. We carry not only our dreams but those who believe in us and rely on us,” Lafayette said in his message.
The mall has a Philippine eagle motif by architectural firm Asya Design.
ASYA’s Christopherson Harina said that security measures are being incorporated in designing the building to prevent the tragic fire incident in 2017 from happening again.
“We discussed going by for a standby na firetrucks and ambulance in the area. We also made sure that the design is well studied even the spacing and the distribution of fire exits are all calculated and this has a fire and alarm detection system which is being done in modern buildings. We ensure also another thing will be the signages which are very crucial in times of emergencies. Those things are incorporated within the design of the building,” Harina said.
The mall will have two main entrances along MacArthur Highway and Maa and will provide more than 800 parking slots in the basement.
The whole mall will open about 1,000 job vacancies, however, former employees of NCCC Mall Maa of about 600 will be prioritized for hiring.
These employees were immediately transferred to other NCCC branches when the fire incident happened.
