Pan Africa Shopping Centre in Alexandra, north of Johannesburg has announced plans to expand thanks to demand from retailers and shoppers.
Located on Third Avenue and Watt Street, one of the township’s busiest hubs, the 16 000 square metre centre will add 2 500 square metre space taking the total retail area to 18 500 square metres.
Located on Third Avenue and Watt Street, one of the township’s busiest hubs, the 16 000 square metre centre will add 2 500 square metre space taking the total retail area to 18 500 square metres.
The shopping centre was opened in 2009 by President Jacob Zuma as part of the Alexandra Renewal Initiative and has exceeded expectations as both an investment and a catalytic project.
It is also the first shopping centre in South Africa to be designed with a fully integrated 50 000 square metre taxi facility.
According to Jonathan Tagg, national leasing manager for Retail Network Services (RNS) also handling leasing deals at the centre, national retailers are taking note of the centre’s success especially as a springboard into the township market.
“Retailers have seen that pedestrian and taxi traffic in the area continues to increase as well as retail turnovers for tenants.”
He says pedestrian and vehicle counts at the centre show that more than 10 000 people pass through the area daily along with some 1 500 taxis.
Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed retailer of food, general merchandise and clothing, Pick ‘n Pay is the anchor tenant with a store measuring 2 800 square metres.
The expansion will see new retailers including national tenants such as Mr Price, Truworths and Clicks join the 60 stores already trading at the centre.
He explains that RNS is building a new regional 32 000 shopping centre in Protea Glen in Soweto scheduled to be opened on 27 September 2012 and have also identified other previously neglected areas countrywide with little or no access to retail facilities.
“Retailers are finding tremendous growth in these locations and with increasing income levels, most of the retail growth will come from these areas.”
He says the rest of Africa is now fast becoming a focus of many retailers wanting to trade outside of South Africa.
With the right retail centre formula, the opportunities in other African countries are set to grow. RNS is leasing retail space in Lubumbashi DRC, Lesotho and looking at opportunities in Maputo, Mozambique.
Retailers including Woolworths have announced plans to open 16 stores in other African countries while Pick n Pay opened its first store at Bagatelle Mall in Mauritius with plans to open two more stores next year.
South African property experts strongly believe that Africa real estate is poised for growth and many investors are said to be eyeing countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia and South Sudan.
Asked about rentals and vacancies at the centre, Tagg says the shopping centre is 100 percent despite the difficult economic trading conditions.
Asked about rentals and vacancies at the centre, Tagg says the shopping centre is 100 percent despite the difficult economic trading conditions. He says they have a long list of retailers wanting to open stores at Pan Africa and rentals are above market related because of the high trading densities in the centre.
He says they have a long list of retailers wanting to open stores at Pan Africa and rentals are above market related because of the high trading densities in the centre.
The success of Pan Africa is that it caters for the community and the young aspirant market of shoppers in the area.
In the past developers built substandard retail facilities in previously neglected area without taking into consideration the needs of that particularly community, he says.
“Retail centres are a challenge and one has to have the right retailer in the right location trading from the right size in order to maximise the potential of the centre.”
Convenience is also a huge factor as the public and the community no longer have to travel long distances to shop.
They also have a choice of retailers and leading brands right on their doorsteps, he says.
He notes that consumers are increasingly more value driven than price driven and the right tenant mix then plays a huge part in attracting shoppers to the centre.
On township retail market, he says community involvement is always important as the success of any development lies in the community’s participation.
Tagg says the retail and shopping centre industry have a huge part to play in providing jobs not only during the construction phase.
As an example, he says a regional shopping centre is able to provide over 500 permanent jobs on average and approximately 1 600 temporary jobs during the construction phase.
Pan Africa Shopping Centre is part of the Presidential Alexandra Renewal Project.
It is owned by Pan Africa DevCo, a development company established by Tebfin Developments in partnership with local entrepreneurs and the two main taxi associations in Alexandra – the Alexandra Taxi Association and Alexandra Randburg Midrand Sandton Taxi Association.
Tebogo Mogashoa of Tebfin believes that Pan Africa Shopping Centre’s location in a natural transport and retail node situated on the historic site formerly known as Pan Africa, has been a major draw card for retailers.
Expansion work is scheduled to start this month and the newly-expanded centre will open for trade on 26 April 2012. – Denise Mhlanga
Readers' Comments Have a comment about this article? Email us now.