FOR many years, Mitchell's Plain has suffered from a shortage of adequate
retail shopping and commercial facilities, with residents forced to look
outside the area for many of their basic requirements. The same has applied
to people wanting to set up small commercial or industrial businesses - no
suitable premises were available.
Now all that is set to change, as the imposing R200 million plus Promenade
shopping centre - with its lettable area of 43 000sq m of retail space
already fully taken up - opens on October 23.
Situated at the corner of A Z Berman Drive and Morgenster Road, the
Promenade will have Pick 'n Pay, Woolworths and Edgars among its anchor
tenants. There will also be familiar food outlets such as Spur, Ocean
Basket, Nando's and KFC, and some 150 line shops offering a wide range of
goods and services. The centre, in fact, will have an excellent business
mix, including well-known national stores, many locally-owned outlets,
branches of the Standard Bank, First National Bank and Nedbank, and an Absa
ATM outlet, as well as two cinemas, run by the Moekadam family. There will
even be basketball courts at the rear of the centre to keep the children
occupied.
There are plans for a retail furniture outlet, a hardware store, several
motor services outlets and an office block next to the main centre, and a
complex of industrial units, all due to be completed by March/April next
year.
The project has been a long time coming, says Shamiel Kolbee, chairman of
the Mitchell's Plain Development Trust. But now that it is almost upon them,
it offers exciting prospects for the future of the whole area.
"With people in many cases forced to go outside the area for their shopping,
or to find work and take care of personal business, their money went with
them and was spent elsewhere. It was an unhappy situation and it was clear
to a small group of us that something had to be done to provide more jobs,
amenities and facilities to keep people in the area, and to encourage
investment. That is why the trust was formed," Kolbee says.
It was a noble idea, but one that proved remarkably hard, at first, to put
into practice. Potential investors shied away, convinced that a project of
that type would not succeed. But then someone told Louis Peens, the
Johannesburg property developer, who specialises in shopping centres, what
the trust had in mind and he immediately showed interest.
Peens has something of a reputation for being prepared to take a risk where
others might hang back, but for him the Promenade project hardly came into
that category. The piece of land Shamiel Kolbee showed him was totally
undeveloped, with Port Jackson in full possession of most of it. But the
position was excellent, and Peens at once saw the potential and was prepared
to commit his company, Keystone Investments, to a partnership with the trust
and the go-ahead for the Promenade project.
Whilst the major investment for the project came from the Johannesburg end,
through Keystone Investments, 20% of the equity was retained by the Mitchell
's Plain Development Trust, which has been closely involved in all stages of
the development.
A prerequisite of the building contract, which was awarded to Group Five
Building, was that at least 60% of the labour employed would be sourced from
the Mitchell's Plain/Khaye-litsha area, and this figure, says Kolbee, was in
fact exceeded. The building work provided much-needed employment for
anything from 250 to 800 workers (at peak) for the construction period.
Thereafter it is estimated that the centre will create somewhere in the
region of 900 to 1 000 permanent jobs - a huge boost for the area.
Group Five Building began work on the centre in early November 2002, faced
with a very tight deadline for a project of that size - and from the outset,
says Keith Miller, the company's Cape director, they set a cracking pace. As
many as 40 concrete columns a day were being erected at one stage to keep
the project on course.
The centre has been built on the site of the old Ilco Homes precast yard,
which was the basis for almost all the early housing in Mitchell's Plain. As
a result, Group Five Building did not have to dig foundations for the
columns, which were simply cast on top of the existing concrete slabs.
The main structure, which was completed in May, consists of concrete columns
and structural steel with brick infill, and in all about three and a half
million bricks were required for the project. The roofing is of Zincalume, a
product developed in Australia which has a special coating making it four
times as durable as galvanised steel.
In keeping with a project of this importance, says Miller, in which many
major stores and businesses will be trading, the workmanship and finishes
had to be of a high standard throughout.
The project is well on schedule for its opening in October, and this, says
Peens, is in large measure due to the excellent work Group Five Building has
done under extreme pressure.
"They have done a great job, working in very well with the developers,
members of the trust and the local community, and I am very impressed with
the way they have performed throughout," he says.
At present the finishing trades are in full swing, and the trademark colours
of the art deco centre, a mix of pink and yellow, can be seen on parts of
the façade. In front of the building a firm of local contractors is busy
with the earthworks for access roads and the extensive parking area that
will be required. The entire area will be attractively landscaped, with
palisade fencing at the rear and more discreet fencing at the front, with
24-hour security and access control.
"Security is very important aspect in a large shopping centre of this kind,
and we want to be sure that the public feels safe here, and has peace of
mind to enjoy the facilities," Kolbee says.
Now that Mitchell's Plain will at last have state of the art facilities of
this kind, Kolbee sees the project as the mainspring of future economic
prosperity in the area. With up to 1000 people having employment there, and
far more money circulating within the community, it must surely lead to the
establishment of other businesses and developments.
"So long forced to lag behind other areas of the Western Cape, Mitchell's
Plain is now coming into its own, and I am extremely optimistic about the
future," he says.
Publisher: Cape business News
Source: Cape business News
FOR many years, Mitchell's Plain has suffered from a shortage of adequate retail shopping and commercial facilities, with residents forced to look outside the area for many of their basic requirements.
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