PacifiCity

Description

PacifiCity is a development in Likas that will eventually bring yet more shopping experiences to the apparently mall-anemic Kota Kinabalu.

Under the banner of Pacific Parade, PacifiCity will offer two retail experiences – the strata bazaar and a lifestyle mall, which boils down to one being owner-owned, read cheap, and the other managed, ie. more upmarket.

Interesting rumours about PacifiCity is the entry to the market of TGV Cinemas.  As the 5th cinema operator and 6th cineplex in Kota Kinabalu, TGV will have their work cut out for them, but they bring a trump card: the rumoured first IMAX in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Of course, you can’t claim to be a modern mall in Kota Kinabalu unless you’re an “integrated development“, and PacifiCity is no different, bringing with the shopping experience residential and office units.

PacifiCity, probably pronounced Pacific City rather than passive-a-city, is long overdue and has been plagued by delays and other troubles, and in 2012 was rebranded and relaunched, after the original development stalled. Property Hunter originally posted an article on 6 November 2013, saying a mall opening in 2015 was envisaged, but that has not happened (the Property Hunter article has since been edited and now shows it published on 19 Mar 2014)

According to another article in Property Hunter dated March 2015, retailers are now supposedly on track to open to the public in early 2016, while a September 2015 announcement from Shangri-La about the 1st Hotel Jen in Borneo, said the new 4-star brand, occupying 2 towers at PacifiCity, will open in 2018.