Thousands of people came to shop or to see what the new mall has to offer for sale. Outside, the flow of vehicular traffic was slowed down because of the large number of people who wanted to drop by the mall to do their shopping activity. This was the sight on May 12, 2017, during the grand opening of the Henry Sy, Sr. owned SM CDO Downtown Premier which is the largest SM mall in Mindanao and the second in Cagayan de Oro and Northern Mindanao.
Constructed on the site of the former Coca Cola Plant, the SM CDO Downtown Premier is composed of a 5 story mall with 200 plus stores and a 12 story BPO with 8 floors of office space. The new business establishment is equipped with a parking space of 1,500 vehicle slots, and an underground water catchment basin to reduce the risk of flooding during heavy rains.
The new five story mall offers the public three level SM stores, SM hypermarket and seven cinemas consisting of the first ever large screen format theater in Mindanao, two director club theaters for intimate screening and four digital cinemas with 2D and 3D technologies, The new mall has also service center, specialty stores, restaurants, bowling centers, food hall, sky hall, sky garden and origami inspired wall.
SM CDO Downtown Premier is expected to boost the local economy with the added tax revenue that can be collected by the city. It will also give business and employment opportunities to the local populace. The SM BPO alone can already generate as many as 4,000 Information Technology jobs to qualified applicants. The opening of SM CDO Downtown Premier for business is expected to further enhance the image of Cagayan de Oro as a major business and tourist destination in Mindanao.
