The acquisition of Dube Village Mall in Kwa-Mashu at a projected initial yield of 10,25% follows successful initial trading at Umlazi Mega City, a R180 million joint development in Durban with Martprop, and the purchase of Hubyeni Shopping Centre, now under construction at Elim, Limpopo, for R86 million. “Dube Village Mall is a neigbourhood convenience centre servicing a strong primary catchment area in one of South Africa’s largest residential areas,” says Peter Sparks, managing director of SA Retail.

“Like Umlazi, Kwa-Mashu which has a population of approximately 600 000, has limited formal retail development. Dube Village Mall opened in December 2005 as the second largest retail development there. It is anchored by a 2 330m² Shoprite store and 75% of the tenants are national operators, including Nedbank, SA Post Office, Dunns, KFC, PEP, OK Furniture, JET and Standard Bank. Trading is significantly ahead of national average benchmarks.” Sparks says the 7 300m² Dube Village Mall offers favourable rental growth prospects over a four-year horizon.