R300 million-plus upgrade to create another massive shopping mall in South Africa
The Ga-Rankuwa City Mall in Gauteng is currently undergoing a massive refurbishment.
The mall’s owner, Mowana Properties, said that it is the only retail centre of size within the area and is classified as a large community centre.
The original mall was completed in 2006 and covered about 37,000 square metres of retail space. The build was valued at R73 million.
However, the refurbishment would add another 22,000 sqm, making it close to regional mall sizes with a gross lettable area of 55,000 sqm.
The project was initiated by the Public Investment Corporation on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund in 2019, with the PIC specifically requiring bidders to have experience in constructing builds valued at over R300 million.
Mowana Properties said that much of the mall’s foot traffic is due to the location of a taxi rank on the same site as the shopping centre.
“There is also a strong presence of informal traders on the site, attracted by the commuters frequenting the taxi rank. The shopping centre is surrounded by large areas of open land, which makes the possibility of expansion possible,” the owner said.
In addition, the centre is adjacent to the M21, a prominent collector road, giving it high levels of accessibility and visibility.
ARC Architects said that the refurbishments at the mall, which is 36 kilometres from Pretoria, will ensure a better shopping experience and improve informal trade. It added that a public transport interchange forms part of the project.
Mowana Properties added that the Development Mater Plan aims to achieve a node with the following advantages:
- Convenience, as all services are located at a central point, allowing people to accomplish more tasks in a single Journey, equating to savings in both time and money
- Reduction in the cost of providing public facilities through the sharing of resources, equipment, and land
- Exposure for public facilities and encouragement of their use
- Integration of different communities
- Reduction of inequalities in the provision of facilities
- Provision of greater security
- Offsetting of transport costs
A video showing the mall’s progress from ARC Architects can be found below:
Images of the development can be found below:
Read: New regional shopping mall coming to South Africa in major R3 billion development
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