By Staff Reporter
RUNDU – The construction of the Rundu shopping mall is well on track, says Safland’s leasing director Mirinda van der Merwe.
“Construction of this new mall began in February and the centre is being built in two phases with phase one comprising of our anchor tenant Shoprite and another 5 000m² being taken up by Clicks, Pep Home, Checkers Liquor, Hungry Lion, KFC, Street House, Ackermans, Style, Beaver Canoe to name but a few,” she said.
The focus by developer Safcoll, a fund managed by Safland International, is to accommodate new tenants that are not yet present in Rundu instead of duplicating shops, thereby creating unnecessary competition.
“It is always our aim to build a strong brand around our malls and to ensure tenant and shopper satisfaction on all levels. This includes new shops that offer shoppers a variety,” noted Van der Merwe.
She said phase 1 will open on April 30, 2015, while phase two is envisaged to be finalised by May 2015 with an additional 9 000m².
This means the end product will cover an area of 14 000 m², making it the biggest shopping centre in northern Namibia.
“Initially we also had a look at another stand on the outskirts of Rundu but decided to build centrally, thereby keeping the mall within the CBD of Rundu, thus strengthening the business district instead of creating more competition. We followed the same principle in Otjiwarongo and Ondangwa and this has been a winning recipe for the towns, the population and Namibia as a whole.”
Safland has over the past years built up a solid reputation in the country and is instrumental in some of the biggest construction projects, including the much anticipated Grove Mall in Windhoek, set to open in September.
“We not only do construction – we are also proud of the many added benefits that this type of work has for Namibia,” said Van der Merwe.
“Jobs are created – in Rundu, for example, 300 people are being employed during the construction and once the mall is operational approximately 250 Namibians will be employed permanently. Furthermore, skills development is another added bonus as quantity surveyors, engineers and the like get experiences in designing, planning of shopping malls.
“Lastly, the overall contribution to retail sales of the Rundu Mall is estimated to will be N$280.5 million per annum and N$1.6 billion over five years while foreign direct investment is estimated at N$120 million and the development value at N$165 million, ” Van der Merwe said.