ILLOVO Boulevard is getting a retail area that will accommodate 13 tenants in 640m², focused on servicing the 5000 office employees working in the Johannesburg northern suburbs office park.

Vic Snyders, retail director of McCreedy Friedlander, says the leasing agency is striving for a tenant mix that will suit the needs of the Illovo Boulevard residents.

The companies currently resident at the office park include the Gordon Institute of Business Science, Intaprop, Iota Financial Services, Brait, Fleming Martin, Mettle, Webber Wentzel, Aon, Colliers RMS, Ethos and Now Media.

Snyders says that most of the retail component tenants will provide more than one type of service, like the restaurant, which will operate as a deli, bakery, coffee shop, espresso bar and sandwich bar.

The retail precinct, he says, will mark a shift away from nationally branded outlets towards private traders 'who are personally involved in the day-to-day running of their stores and are able to deliver the required level of customer service'.

He says: 'This policy was followed to avoid adherence to preconceived brand loyalties. '

The retail venture has created a precedent in the constantly evolving convenience centre environment, which is becoming more specialised, he says. 'While a few other office nodes such as the JSE's have introduced retail components, their primary driver has been to maximise retail leasing options.'

With the incentive in the retail project being to add value and improve the quality of the office lifestyle, the retail component had to be set up after the office development had been shaped by its occupants. Because of this, it gained a unique personality, Snyders says.