After formally assuming ownership of Victoria Plaza on Wednesday, March 27, New City Commercial Corporation (NCCC) unveiled its grandiose plans for Davao’s iconic mall which included twin tower condominium, luxury hotel, corporate center and four-storey mall.
Sharlene Faye Lim, LTS Malls Inc. president, bared the company’s development plans and design concept of the sprawling 9.6 hectare Victoria Plaza complex in a symbolic takeover through a Hong Kong-based design consortium.
Lim provided a glimpse of the future of Victoria Plaza under its ownership in an audio visual presentation.
President Rodrigo Duterte, in a video clip, congratulated the new owners and expressed his elation of the sale which involved two Dabawenyo families.
“What makes me glad is that the property was acquired by a family who runs a shopping mall,” President Duterte said referring the the Lim family.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who was represented in the event by Vice Mayor Bernard Al-ag, gave her message in the AVP.
“I thank NCCC for the trust you have placed in Davao City as an investment destination since the 1990s,” said Mayor Duterte as she congratulated NCCC for expanding its footprint in retail business in the city.
Like many Dabawenyos, Mayor Duterte did not hide her excitement of the plans of the new owners for their new acquisition. “As one of Davao City’s homegrown enterprises, we are excited to see what NCCC has in store for us soon,” she added.
NCCC, Davao City’s homegrown pioneering retail establishment New City Commercial Corporation (NCCC) consummated the landmark deal in a signing ceremony held on March 12, 2019 at the PNB Financial Center in Manila between NCCC Chairman Helen A. Lim, and Malls president Sharlene Faye A. Lim and officials from the Lucio Tan-owned Philippine National Bank (PNB) via the former owners, the Limso family.
PLANT-INSPIRED
An official of a Hong Kong-based design company presented a design concept detailed with a mix of iconic medium and high-rise buildings inspired by some exotic and endemic plants of Mindanao to rise within the mall complex.
Walter V. Melicor, chief financial officer of the Elements Habitare, told reporters in an interview during the formal takeover ceremony Wednesday held inside Victoria Plaza’s Cinema 5, which currently houses the Harvest House City Church, that the development would have five phases.
Melicor, a native of Mati City in Davao Oriental, said the first two phases would have a five-star hotel, a condominium and serviced apartments; a twin-tower in phase 3; NCCC headquarters in phase 4; and a four-story mall in phase 5.
COMPONENTS
The designs of the most iconic components of the 9.6-ha development, such as the twin-tower, NCCC corporate building and mall took inspiration from the exotic plants of Mindanao, he said.
He added the design of the twin tower would be inspired by the pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant found in Mt. Hamiguitan in Davao Oriental province and other forests of Mindanao, the corporate building by the exotic mangosteen fruit, and the mall by the petals of the waling-waling plant endemic to the island.
Melicor’s team designed some of the world’s iconic buildings, among them Marina Bay Sands of Singapore, Galaxy Macau, a casino resort in Macau, and Okada Manila, a luxury hotel casino in the Philippines.
Melicor said the Lim family would decide if it wants to retain the old structure of the mall, but added the current conceptual design might require a total demolition of the old structure to give way to a new one
He said the current structure might not support the proposed expansion of the mall.
“We are moving forward to the future. The sentimentality will always be there, in the place but not in the building. I think the building — we have to enhance and make it iconic building at par with the world,” he said.
RETAINING THE OLD
But NCCC president Sharlene A. Lim assured the old mall building would be retained but it would have a facelift.
She said the company plans to proceed with a phase-by-phase development of the old Victoria Plaza Mall as it did for its NCCC Mall in Maa before a massive fire destroyed it on December 23, 2017. The fire incident killed the mall’s key custodian and 37 call center agents of Survey Sampling International.
Lim added the company plans to develop the dilapidated cinemas into a family entertainment center, where the restaurants located at the periphery of the mall’s parking space will be relocated.
The mall tenants, including ukay-ukay vendors, would be provided a space, she said.
She said NCCC Department Store and Supermarket would eventually take over the department store and supermarket of the Victoria Plaza.
She said the Victoria Plaza has over 300 tenants at present.
Inaugurated on March 16, 1993, the Davao Sunrise Investment & Development Corporation of the Limso family previously managed the Victoria Plaza, a premier mall of the Dabawenyos in the 1990’s.
On the start of the development, Lim added her family plans to “get this running sooner.”
She said NCCC welcomes players to invest in the mixed-use development.
“A lot of people are interested in coming in and sort of doing this vision to life. Starting today, we can start talking to people about it openly kasi nga before medyo hush-hush kami,” she said. (With a report from Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
