Robinsons Land Corporation, the real estate development arm of the Gokongwei group, is opening the Robinsons Place Ilocos mall expansion to more than double its current size with the addition of a lifestyle wing and BPO offices. “The present success of the North Wing of Robinsons Place Ilocos has prompted us to expand the mall to cater to more shoppers,” said RLC President Frederick D. Go. Go said the new South Wing of Robinsons Place Ilocos covers a much larger area than the existing mall and is a nod to the premiumization of Ilocos consumers. “Robinsons Place Ilocos is the first full-service mall in the province and now it is also the first premier lifestyle mall in Ilocos Norte,” said Go adding that it offers a wide array of retail and dining options, cinemas, promenades and open areas for various fun activities. San Nicolas is the center of business among all other towns in Ilocos Norte with local businesses coming from the retail, services, manufacturing, real estate leasing, printing and advertising, and distribution sectors. The mall expansion with mixed-use development (South Wing) is located beside the original mall (North Wing) that was opened in December 2009. The new wing is a 4-storey building in Brgy. 1 San Francisco, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte. The total area of the expansion site has almost tripled from 20,500 square meters (North Wing) to 53,600 square meters (South Wing), an additional 95% in gross leasable area (GLA). The first two floors of the Robinsons Place Ilocos South Wing houses the mall expansion, covered parking and part of the BPO office space. The third and fourth floors are reserved for BPO offices as well as more parking slots. The South Wing is anchored by Toys ‘R Us, Daiso, and three new state-of-the-art cinemas in addition to the three existing cinemas in the North Wing. Shops will include new and popular Philippine, international and global brands such as H&M, Uniqlo, Cotton On, Giordano, Payless and Watsons.  Gadgets stores like Samsung, Oppo, Cherry Mobile; and health and wellness outlets such as David’s Salon and Fresh Salon and Spa shall be located at the second level. Popular casual dining restaurants and coffee shops will also be available at the Food Gallery located along the new mall’s bridgeway at level 2.  Robinsons Place Ilocos (South Wing) will have a refreshing Al Fresco area with beautiful landscaping and water jets that reaches up to 1.5 meters. “It will be a whole new definitive malling experience and presents an exciting new concept in retail design. Robinsons Place Ilocos South Wing offers more fashion boutiques, more culinary choices, more activities and more reasons for Ilocanos to come and stay longer,” says Go. In addition, part of the second floor of the North Wing has been redeveloped with an area of 3,450 sqm and is linked to the expansion mall by two bridgeways located at the second floor of both wings. For the greater convenience of residents and shoppers, the redeveloped area has the DFA Region 1 office that will handle the application and renewal of passports. Also located at the redeveloped area is the Lingkod Pinoy center for BIR, SSS, GSIS and PhilHealth services. “The site of Robinsons Place Ilocos makes it ideal for BPO offices since it is within close proximity to several universities- 5 minutes away from Laoag City and 20 minutes from the airport, and is easily accessible from the National Highway,” said Go. As with other Robinsons BPO developments, the Robinsons Ilocos BPO office will have its own exclusive lobby and elevator support, space for recruitment center at the ground floor, and a large office floor plate of over 3,100 sqm. The PEZA-registered office will have multiple telecom providers, CCTV surveillance with 24/7 security, 24/7 operation capability with 100 percent back-up power and can operate even when the mall is closed. It will use a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air conditioning system, N+1 Fire Alarm Detection System (FDAS), and will be equipped with fire sprinklers and smoke detectors. Robinsons Place Ilocos is one of the many Robinsons Land projects in the region along with existing horizontal residential developments such as Brighton Park Place, Brighton Park Place North and Hanalei Heights. It is also one of the seven commercial centers in the North Luzon with Robinsons Starmills, Robinsons Angeles, Robinsons Place Pangasinan, Robinsons Luisita, Robinsons Place Malolos and Robinsons Place Santiago, among others.