Sources report Pacific Mall as opening either in 1996 or 1997. Its Cantonese name, "太古廣場" (Tai Gu Gwong Cheung), is derived from Pacific Place in Hong Kong. At the time of its opening, Pacific Mall was the only mall of any kind of its scale in Scarborough and Markham. The mall's 715 retail condos were presold by 1993 for an average of $200 per square foot, and were priced from $59,800 to $249,800. A majority of condo buyers originated from Hong Kong, where Pacific Mall units were advertised extensively; many investors purchased units in Pacific Mall in order to fulfill the $250,000 investment requirement of CANIIP.