Robinsons Butuan
Gokongwei-led Robinsons Land Corp. has upgraded its shopping mall in Butuan – marking the first expansion of a Robinsons shopping mall in Mindanao – citing strong demand from consumers in this Caraga region.
Robinsons Place Butuan, one of the six Robinsons Malls in Mindanao, has undergone expansion to cater to the local residents’ need for more dining, shopping and entertainment options, RLC announced in a press statement on Wednesday.
From the original gross floor area (GFA) of 42,000 square meters (sqm), the mall expansion will add another 17,000 sqms for a total GFA of 59,000 sqm while gross leasable area will rise from 26,000 sqm to 35,400 sqm. Soft opening of the expanded area is expected within this month.
Caraga is an administrative region of the Philippines on the northeastern portion of the island of Mindanao designated as Region XIII. This region is composed of five provinces: Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands. It encompasses six cities: Butuan City, Cabadbaran, Surigao, Tandag, Bislig and Bayugan alongside 67 municipalities and 1,311 barangays. Butuan City is the regional administrative center.
Formally opened in 2013, Robinsons Place Butuan is the only full-service mall in the region and the first mixed-use development of RLC in the city. Budget hotel Go Hotels is one of the anchors together with Robinsons Department Store, Robinsons Supermarket, Robinsons Appliances, South Star Drug, Robinsons Bank and Robinsons Malls Lingkod Pinoy Center housing satellite offices of various government agencies such as Department of Foreign Affairs, Social Security System, Philpost, Philhealth and TESDA.
The mall expansion will add more shops and restaurants, a land transportation terminal, increase the supermarket area and add two more digital cinemas, RLC said.
Construction of the bus terminal located within the mall complex is now complete and it will be operational this month. RLC said this is part of its plan to integrate a transportation terminal in all of its malls nationwide. The terminal has 12 bays for air-conditioned buses plying to and from the provinces of Surigao, Cagayan de Oro City and Davao City. The terminal offers an air-conditioned lounge, clean toilets, food kiosks and landscaped areas.
Meanwhile, the expansion of Robinsons Movieworld in the Butuan mall will increase its number of seats from the existing 1,312 to more than 1,800 seats, including seats for persons with disability (PWDs) in all cinemas.
“With Robinsons Place Butuan’s upscale design on the expansion mall, it has attracted more tenants offering health and beauty services to pamper shoppers. There is also a larger number of restaurants being opened by local entrepreneurs due to the improving lifestyle of Butuanons,” RLC said.
RLC noted the growing importance of Butuan in Mindanao not just as the center of trade but also as host to various government offices that people flock to such as the Police Regional Office Region 13, Department of Education Caraga Region, Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau Region 13, PhilHealth Regional Office, Civil Service Commission and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Robinsons Butuan is located along the major thoroughfare of J.C. Aquino Avenue in Barangay Bayanihan.
RLC owns and operates six malls in Mindanao strategically located in key urban cities. These are Robinsons Place GenSan, Robinsons Place Tagum, Robinsons Cybergate Davao, Robinsons Cagayan de Oro, the newly-opened Robinsons Place Iligan and Robinsons Place Butuan. These Mindanao shopping malls have a total GFA of more than 277,000 square meters.