Problem-ridden shopping mall will open in March
Mejaši Prvi, the management company in charge of Mall of Splitt, confirmed for Total Croatia News on February 3, 2016, that they finally received all operating licenses. After months of uncertainty, and several postponements of the big opening (mostly due to the fault of the investor), the largest shopping mall in this area will open its doors in March.
Investors were in trouble on several fronts. Due to their unresolved financial issues with some of the contractors who claimed they were not paid for their work. Contractors refused to submit all security attests and certificates for their complete work including elevators, escalators, and basic construction specs so the Mall could not receive its operating license even though all technical inspections were completed on December 17, 2015.
Furthermore, there was a problem with access roads. Original contract stated that the investor will be able to build over the standard construction percentage (building bonus) if they construct all access roads to the Mall and hand them over to the city after they are completed. Since there was a mortgage on the land where all access roads were built and then the problem with the roundabout appeared (smaller in size than what the original building permit required), the city refused to sign the take-over documents until a new permit was issued and the mortgage issue was resolved.
Since the roundabout and all access roads are the exact same size they were a month ago, we’re guessing a new building permit was issued to reflect current state and size. It is still unclear whether the mortgage issue was resolved, but since the operating license was issued, it is obvious that Mejaši Prvi and the City of Split have reached some sort of an agreement.
The exact opening date is still unknown but we will let you know in time.
