A R120m shopping centre, called the Alexandra Junction Shopping Centre, is being planned for one of the busiest hubs in the Johannesburg township.

Tebogo Mogashoa, MD of New Heights Developers, the lead company in the consortium behind the public-private development with the Gauteng government, says it makes sense to build a shopping centre in Pan Africa Triangle in Alexandra because it is a busy node in terms of foot traffic and public transport.

"It has a foot count of 10000 people a day and traffic count of 1500 taxis operating from that area on a daily basis. It’s a natural point of congregation for the people of Alexandra," says Mogashoa.

He says New Heights is hoping to start development in October and finish it by April 2007.

The centre will have a three-level holding facility for taxis. "This centre is also going to work as a regional transport node."

Mogashoa says the development will be a retail centre, but about 40% will be dedicated to the services industry, including post offices, clinics and pharmacies. "These were all services which were previously unavailable in Alex," says Mogashoa.

The project is a result of a tender process initiated by government in December 2003. "We responded by forming a consortium called the Pan Africa Development Company," Mogashoa says.

The consortium was formed with Alexandra Taxi Association and the Alexandra Randburg Midrand Sandton Association, the major operators in Alexandra.

Gavin Tagg of Retail Network Services, the retail consultants for the centre, says Pick ’n Pay has expressed interest in being the anchor tenant. Negotiations are being finalised for Pick ’n Pay to take 3500m² of space in the 12000m² centre.

The balance of the tenants will be local and regional fashion retailers, service and convenience retailers, with space for hawkers.