Iloilo Business Park Festive Walk Parade holds soft opening

Megaworld recently held the soft opening of the first phase of the Festive Walk Parade in the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park township in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

At 1.1 km long and divided into four phases, the Festive Walk Parade is considered as Western Visayas’ longest retail and dining strip. It will showcase local and legendary Ilonggo restaurants as well as international brands. Megaworld plans it to be the next center of nightlife in the bustling city of Iloilo.

“With the opening of the first phase of the Festive Walk Parade this Christmas season, Ilonggos will get a taste of the experience that a Megaworld Lifestyle Mall offers. The line of retail shops and restaurants fronting wide arcades, surrounded by beautifully landscaped walkways, makes a stroll along the entire stretch of the Iloilo Festive Walk a truly captivating experience,” says Kevin L. Tan, senior vice president and head, Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

The exterior design of the Festive Walk Parade is reminiscent of the Santana Row development in California, with touches of art nouveau and art deco as homage to Iloilo’s own architectural heritage.

Dinagyang warriors performed during the soft opening.

Grand Launching

The grand launching of the first phase is set on January 17, 2017. Denisse Patricia C. Malong, Senior Leasing Manager, revealed that the first phase will be home to 25 restaurants and retail shops. She said that they are expecting all tenants of Festive Walk Parade to be fully operational by 1st quarter of next year.

Denisse Patricia C. Malong, Megaworld's Senior Leasing Manager, (left) talks to the media.

Simultaneous with the soft opening, 3 tenants, namely Griller’s Oyster House, Tinukib and Biscocho Haus also opened that day. Restaurants and coffee shops that Ilonggos have to watch out for include 13th Street Coffee, Dulgie’s, Book Latte, Chick ‘n Tea Shop, Lanai Grill, Jip Bap, Table Matters, Bistro Carcosa and many more. Skinetics is also opening a branch there.

Casa Emperador

At the edge of the development will be the Casa Emperador, which will house the Casa Emperador Museum at its 2nd and 3rd floors. The museum will showcase the rich history and vast collection of one of the world’s biggest brandy producer, Emperador Distillers Inc. Casa Emperador’s facade echoes Iloilo's very own Provincial Capitol with impressive neoclassical design and proportions, evoking the aesthetics of old European palaces.

Park Square

Meanwhile, alfresco dining on the development’s second floor will have a spectacular view of the beautifully landscaped Park Square, where a monument of Ilonggo revolutionary hero General Martin Delgado will stand.

“The Festive Walk Parade will serve as a cultural and historical manifesto for Iloilo, a celebration of its heritage and future, establishing a place of economic and civic vibrancy, life and activity,” says Tan.

Early this year, Megaworld announced the completion of around 11 malls and commercial centers in McKinley Hill, Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley West, The Mactan Newtown, Iloilo Business Park, ArcoVia City, Southwoods City and Makati by year-end, totalling to around 371,000 square meters of gross floor area. Just last month, it announced the construction of Northill Town Center in its 53-hectare Northill Gateway township in Bacolod.