New hotel, mall to rise in Urdaneta

URDANETA CITY — A new hotel-mall complex is set to rise in Barangay Nacayasan here soon after Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr led the groundbreaking rites for the structure on Wednesday.

The complex will be built in an eight-hectare lot and will have a five- storey shopping mall, 15-storey hotel, four- storey recreational center, among others.

Construction is expected to start in November and last for18 months .

The company behind this gigantic project is Princess Urduja Allied Business Center Inc., composed of Japanese and Filipino businessmen, including provincial board member Emmanuel Carancho.

The new facility is in addition to the mall the Shoemart shopping mall chain is also planning to build near the new city hall.

Perez said the conversion of the lot from agricultural to commercial land has just been approved by the provincial board.

But the conversion will have to be approved by Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and other government agencies.

Unlike Dagupan City, Urdaneta City has more lots to offer for investors. But lot owners also take advantage of the boom in the city and jack up their prices that sometimes shoo away would- be investors, Perez said. — Eva Visperas