Nicola Jenvey

DURBAN — National ladies’ clothing retailer Miladys has become the latest business to give the thumbs up to the renovated and expanded Lion Match business complex.

Miladys signed a seven-year, R20m lease with the development.

Part of the Mr Price Group, Miladys was formerly housed at the Durban station complex, in the vicinity of the head office.

However, it needed to move for growth and expansion reasons.

JHI broker Cynthia Freer said the location of the Lion Match complex, further along the rail line, was regarded as “ideal”.

This was especially because of the “funky, contemporary yet old world feel” of the development, given that the clothing business was associated with creativity.

The Lion Match complex — originally the production facility for the match production business formerly owned by SABMiller — houses a number of listed buildings that posed a challenge to developers JT Ross and architects Jay & Nel when they were planning the expansion.

The conversion of the low-yield factory space provided the Jonsson Group, which has had its head offices in the main Lion Match building for the past six years, with an annex for subsidiary Jonsson Workwear.

Together with the adjoining Miladys development, the multimillion rand expansion added 5000m²² to the business park of 20000m²

“Given concerns over power for new developments, and the growing trend towards sustainable developments, the rejuvenation of the old warehouse buildings was particularly inviting and stimulating,” Jay & Nel Architects director Dean Jay said. By adapting old buildings to meet market needs — which entailed essentially rejuvenating and refurbishing what was already existing rather than constantly creating some thing new — the professional building industry was “moving in tandem” towards a more sustainable built environment, he said.

Freer said the Umgeni Road area had been suffering from lack of quality space, as many buildings were of lower grade and old. However, the Lion Match renovation, along with other significant upgrades in the node, was changing the perception of the area.

“We are still experiencing huge demand in the commercial sector from smaller users to large corporate and blue chip businesses,” Freer said. “This reinforces confidence in the market that the demand for good-quality buildings still exceeds supply.”

Source: Business Day