More commercial developments will rise along the Bacolod-Silay Airport Access Road within the year as part of a mixed-use retail and leisure complex inside the Northill Gateway township.

As of Monday, five international casual dining brands were confirmed as the first tenants at the free-standing retail development concept called the Northill Parade, a 2.4-hectare property located at the boundary of this provincial capital and Talisay City in Negros Occidental.

“Construction of all of these developments will begin before the end of this year, and we expect to open Northill Parade by the second half of next year,” Graham Coates, head of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, said in a statement.

The commercial development is expected to be another new tourist destination in the city since it is situated just along the airport road, where the Bacolod welcome marker is also located.

The Northill Parade, which has a total leasable area of 1.1 hectares, will also have space for open parking and landscaped pathways.

Coates said the lifestyle mall at The Upper East, a 34-hectare modern central business district in this city inaugurated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in October last year, will also start construction next year. (PNA)