The largest shopping mall in northern KwaZulu-Natal is being developed by businessman Vivian Reddy’s Edison Corporation.

The R230m Century Mall — being developed on the main road entering Newcastle — would be completed in September next year, Reddy said.

Market research conducted by the Edison Corporation found there was “major demand for a shopping centre of this magnitude in Newcastle”.

“There is no proper shopping mall in Newcastle.

“Our market research showed that people living in Newcastle spent R1,2bn on annual basis on shopping in the current shopping centres in and around Newcastle,” he said.

Reddy said Newcastle had a population of 550000 people.

“What is critical is that the position of the centre is ideal as a traffic survey shows that 500000 cars pass there on a monthly basis. That’s 16000 cars a day.”

The Century Mall would be situated adjacent to the newly built R100m Century Casino Spa and Hotel, also developed by the Edison Corporation.

Reddy said the actual building would be 26000m² and the retail space offered was 21000m².

“Our casino, which is situated adjacent to the mall, gets 100000 visitors a month.”

The group would create 1300 parking bays at the centre. “One of the major problems with the shopping centres in Newcastle is the lack of parking.”

Reddy said 70% of the mall had been pre-let and that the group was confident of the centre being 100% let by the time it opened next year. Construction of the centre would start in July.

Century Mall would look to include cinemas, major fashion retailers, supermarkets, furniture and homeware stores, restaurants, fast-food outlets, coffee bars and an entertainment area.

David Green, MD of property brokers Pace Property Group, said that historically Newcastle had not had a major shopping mall and had largely always relied on “high street” shopping.

“The shopping mall will probably work very well but at the cost of the high street shopping.”