Megaworld, the country’s largest developer of integrated urban townships, is building a three-level lifestyle mall inside its 34-hectare The Upper East township in Bacolod City.
Covering a gross floor area of 24,200-square meters, the P1.2-B lifestyle place Upper East Mall is set to become Bacolod’s new architectural landmark as it showcases a blend of neo-classical and art deco architecture, reminiscent of New York City’s Upper East Side cityscape.
The mall’s design will be highlighted by a 48-meter high iconic clock tower that illuminates even at night, making it a major landmark along the six-lane main avenue of the township that stretches from Lopez Jaena Street to Circumferential Road.
“What we are building in The Upper East is not just an ordinary mall. We are curating an architectural masterpiece that depicts the cosmopolitan vibe of our Bacolod township. This is just the first mall that we are building in this township because there is still more room for future expansion,” says Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer, Megaworld.
Upper East Mall will house several rows of restaurants facing a garden of century-old trees that will be surrounded by Koi ponds.
The mall will also house four (4) state-of-the-art cinemas and an open-air Food Hall with an indoor garden.
To be managed and operated by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, the Upper East Mall will also be highlighted by sustainable features such its own solar panel roofing, energy efficiency features such as perceived airconditioning cooling design, escalators with crawling features, rainwater harvesting system where the rainwater is recycled for plant watering, and a gray water recycling system where the water that is discharged from the sewage treatment plant is collected and used for secondary flushing of mall’s toilets and urinals.
The mall will be directly connected to the future Transport Hub of the township, and just across the central park facing the two residential condominium towers of One Regis and Two Regis.
Megaworld is allocating P1.2-billion to build the Upper East Mall, which forms part of the P28-billion capital spending that the company earlier announced. It is expected to be completed by 2021.
“We are excited to see The Upper East transforming into a modern central business district (CBD) of Bacolod. In the next three to five years, we will see the residential towers, office towers, commercial buildings, hotel, church, parks, and this new lifestyle mall rising. We will also be opening the Upper East Avenue to the public in two years,” reveals Tan.
Aside from The Upper East, the company is also simultaneously completing its 54-hectare Northill Gateway township located along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road within the boundary of Talisay City and Bacolod City. The township will also have its own lifestyle mall called Northill Town Center beside the residential villages of Forbes Hill and Fountain Grove.