IT IS hard to believe that in the 1960s the greater Sandton area consisted of mostly semi-rural areas and was associated with horses and country estates.

The establishment of Sandton City, the first regional mall of its kind in SA and the forerunner of the regional mall as we know it today, led to a development explosion in Sandton and the establishment of a commercial centre in the 1980s.

Sandton City, the first major development on the Sandton skyline, turned 30 at the end of last month, and was the catalyst in Sandton becoming the important business and financial district that it is today.

Sandton was promulgated as a municipality only a year before the construction, and three years before the opening of Sandton City in 1973. The name Sandton was formed by combining the names Bryanston and Sandown.

At this time Sandton was largely a farming and smallholding community, described by a former town planner as comprising 30000 whites and 15000 horses. The first step in transforming Sandton to a business district came with the establishment of Sandton City, which was developed and constructed by then Rapp & Maister (now Liberty Properties). When Sandton City opened it consisted of 120 stores on four levels, covering 50000m² and served by 2500 parking bays.

An office tower of 21 levels was also constructed.

The rush for commercial space began in the mid to late 1980s, when it was cheaper to buy land in Sandton, Rosebank and Parktown than in Johannesburg's central business district.

In 1983 Sandton City expanded and added on an extra 44000m, bringing the total size of the centre to 94000m² and 250 stores . The Sandton Sun and Towers was completed as well, providing 564 rooms and the Sandton City Twin Towers with 20000m² of office space.

Parking bays were increased to 8000 .

Eric Bernstein, a director of Liberty Properties, which owns Sandton City, says this expansion was a "giant leap forward" and subsequent to that there have been continual extensions of retail and parking space.

Bernstein says that when Sandton City was built there existed what were called strip shopping malls along major roads. Where shops existed in nodes, they were not in enclosed shopping malls, like Sandton City.

He says the exodus from the central business district to Sandton, Rivonia and the Midrand areas originally started because of heavy traffic and parking shortages in the Johannesburg central business district.

Escalating crime later on also encouraged the migration.

Sandton City now has a gross lettable area of 128000m² and 45000m² of office space. There are 10000 parking bays.

Oct 15 2003 08:05:47:000AM Nick Wilson Business Day 1st Edition