The face of the East London retail environment is to undergo a major facelift with the announcement of a R800-million regional retail centre.

Hemingways Mall, which will have 60 000m² of lettable space, is to be developed by Billion Property Group after it won a seven-month bidding process to purchase seven hectares of land from hotel and gaming group Tsogo Sun.

The land is directly adjacent to the Hemingways Casino, which is owned by Tsogo. Construction is to start on September 1, with the opening scheduled for October, 2008.

Billion Property Group is led by Sisa Ngebulana, who was born in East London.

The announcement of the development brings the total investment in new and upgrading of existing shopping centres in Buffalo City to R1,7-billion. This includes the R300-million shopping complex in Mdantsane, outside East London, which is also being developed by Billion Property Group, and the R500-million East Coast Mall to be developed in Gonubie.

The city's former mainstay, the Vincent Park Shopping Centre, is undergoing a R105-million upgrade at present.

Border-Kei Chamber of Commerce CEO Les Holbrook said yesterday the Hemingways Mall announcement and the construction's already in progress showed confidence in the region.

Holbrook said there was always a danger of reaching a saturation point in terms of retail outlets and space, but East London was "still some way away from that".

In this regard he did not see a clash between the Mdantsane and Hemingways developments, as consumers from the township would have to spend R10 or more on a taxi ride to get to the new centre.

He also noted a "strong thirst" for businesses to grow.

"We spend so much time and effort looking for foreign direct investment, but we tend to forget that foreign investors look to see what local investor confidence is like," said Holbrook.

Billion Property Group said about 2 000 temporary and permanent jobs would be created once the Hemingways Mall was completed, with an estimated 3 000 jobs to be created during construction.

An empowerment component has been built into the development through the ceding of 10% of shareholding for local empowerment shareholders.

The company expects to complete 70% of its lease agreements by August this year, with many national retailers already voicing their interest in taking up space in the new centre.

Tenants will include high-end prime and value fashion, food and home stores, restaurants and fast food outlets, as well as an entertainment node.

Eastern Province Herald
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge