With the redevelopment of the Brightwater Commons, formerly the Randburg Waterfront, now complete, the landlords are hoping to turn around the fortunes of the shopping centre.

About three years ago the Randburg Waterfront was repositioned as the Brightwater Commons and the lake was removed.

At the time, waterside design had drew criticism and the still water was perceived as dirty.

Management said then that man-made lakes had not been a success in Johannesburg because, although people loved being near water, they were not keen on large, artificial expanses of still water.

The third phase of the redevelopment of the 42,000m? shopping centre was completed two months ago.

Allan Gray Property Trust (Grayprop), a listed property unit trust and the owner of the Brightwater Commons, believes the repositioning is going to start paying dividends.

Centre spokesman Cheryl Adamson says just more than a quarter of the centre is vacant but that 90% of that quarter was involved in phase three of the redevelopment of the centre.

Adamson says the global trends towards outdoor lifestyle centres seem to have "found their place in the sun" and that, locally, the Brightwater Commons was one of the first Gauteng centres to "embrace this trend".

"The phased refurbishment of what was the Randburg Waterfront is now complete.

"The restaurant component of the mall has been significantly scaled down from the previous development but continues to be one of the centre's main attractions, with many consumers regularly supporting this category and enjoying the lifestyle (restaurants) provide."

The centre's enclosed mall area has always been anchored by Pick 'n Pay, which has always traded well, she says.

But the phased redevelopment has caused certain areas of the centre to lag behind in terms of leasing. This is now changing with more than 20 stores having been installed at the centre in the past year.

The final challenge is what the tenant mix in phase three of the development will be.

Negotiations with Woolworths for a 2,300m? full-range store are under way. The mix of adjacent tenants is under active negotiation, says Grayprop.

"While there are many options for the small tenants in the covered area of phase three, until the large spaces have been finalised, one cannot conclude deals for the smaller tenants."

Business Day