WALVIS BAY – The Dunes Mall currently under construction at the entrance of Walvis Bay will create at least 1 450 jobs.
This was revealed during the ground-breaking ceremony of the N$480 million shopping complex, which is expected to transform the landscape of Walvis Bay once it is operational.
According to Kallie van der Merwe, the CEO of Safland International Property Services that is developing the mall, 450 jobs will be created during the construction phase.
“Two local contractors were roped in for the construction phase and all building material is also being sourced locally,” he explained.
He added that another 1 000 jobs will be created once the mall is operational in 2017.
He said Walvis Bay will the second town in Namibia to boast a modern regional centre after the Grove Mall in Windhoek that opened its doors in November last year.
The size of the Dunes Mall will be 28 000 square metres and its primary design focus for Bob Mould & Scheffer Architects, the project architects, was to create a cocoon to protect shoppers against the harsh elements experienced in Walvis Bay.
In order to achieve this, the centre’s back will face the normally prevailing winds. The complex will consist of about 80 stores that will be spread over two shopping levels.
This, according to Van der Merwe, will allow developers to create three wind-protected parking levels of which two will be under cover.
Movement between the two shopping levels will be by way of scenic escalators, which is also a first for Walvis Bay, and this will become a design feature of the mall.
The names of prospective tenants will not be released before the lease agreements have been finalised, but coastal residents can anticipate to see retailers such as Game.