Their latest endeavour is the redeveloped Kagiso Mall project in Mogale Cityis due to open in April 2012 . Started in 2008, the project involved demolishing rather than refurbishing the mall and its final cost of development is estimated at R123,5 million.

BY way of context, Kagiso is a township located west of Johannesburg near Krugersdorp, and falls under Mogale City Municipality. Kagiso Mall was originally developed in the 1980s and had become desperately out-dated and run-down, with low occupancy rates. After demolition of the old mall, the only anchor tenant that remained was the Shoprite Supermarket, which retained 2 600m². The newly developed mall will be 11 700m², with 9 200m² of new-line shops that will house a retail mix of 50 shops. Fast food tenants will be facing the main parking area to enable extended trading hours.

Hein Smit, Fund Manager of Old Mutual Direct Fund, said: “A focus for Old Mutual Property is making a sustainable contribution to the environment and township communities, which enables wider socio-economic upliftment. We are therefore excited about the redevelopment of the new Kagiso Mall as we believe this project will be a valuable enhancement to this community’s shopping and social experience.”

In the design, there are various items that add to the drive to achieve sustainability within the overall budget constraints. KMH, as architects to the project, have been appointed specifically to address the sustainable aspects of the project, which include utilising local skills and expertise in the development phase, re-usable building materials (which are donated to the local community if not used in the new development), rainwater harvesting, low energy lighting and improved insulation specifications.

Old Mutual Property Managing Director Peter Levett said: “We will continue finding ways to contribute to social development projects that benefit the community and townships and we are proud of our contribution to the development of the Kagiso area. We look forward to the successful conclusion of this project and the grand opening next year.”

Community involvement in the project has been considered through each stage of the project, which is one of the distinguishing factors of the story of this mall. The final design finishes propose to include numerous artworks and contributions from the community to depict images relevant to the local community.

This is not the first project undertaken by Old Mutual Property to improve the community. Old Mutual acquired Phanghami Mall, situated in Thohoyandou in Limpopo Province, which boasts a 7 834m² shopping centre complex (opened at the end of October 2009) with an investment amount of R75m.  In addition, Phumlani Mall in Tembisa on the East Rand in Gauteng, was acquired for R175m. This modern shopping centre was completed in July 2009 and is fully operational, with a tenant mix of about 75% comprising national tenants.