Company Announcement - Mall opening creates 2,500 jobs as R500m in new development rolls out
The opening of the R1.7-billion Baywest Mall in Port Elizabeth this April – the Eastern Cape’s largest retail and entertainment centre – will bring with it the creation of up to 2,500 permanent jobs, while development to the tune of R500-million rolls out around the centre, say the developers.

The project is a joint venture between Billion Group, headed by Johannesburg-based property magnate Sisa Ngebulana, and the Stellenbosch-based Abacas Asset Management, responsible for Cape Town’s Cape Gate shopping centre and Mooi Rivier Mall in Potchefstroom, among others. Speaking about the economic impact of the mall on the region, Baywest MD Gavin Blows said an average of 10 permanent jobs would be created to staff the mall’s 250 retail outlets. On top of this, staff would be needed for security and cleaning services at the 90,000m² (gross leasable area/GLA) centre – contracts which would be advertised in the coming weeks, he said.

“Because Baywest Mall is the catalyst to the entire Baywest City development, development will continue around the mall once it opens in April,” Blows explained. “We already have R500-million worth of development lined up for this year, which includes office blocks and a motor showroom.” Tenants, such as Shoprite-Checkers, have meanwhile begun the hunt for employees to staff their Baywest outlets with advertisements in the local media and CV collection points at their Port Elizabeth stores. “We have been inundated with requests for work at the mall,” said Blows. “Our community liaison officer has already received more than 500 CVs for our database. We will pass the database on to our tenants as they begin their search for staff.”

With major anchor tenants including Woolworths, Game, Shoprite-Checkers, Edgars and Pick n Pay, Blows said the centre’s full tenant list would be revealed in the weeks leading up to the April opening. Blows said a key attraction at the mall was its R100-million Fun Factory wing featuring the province’s only ice rink, allowing for the formation of ice hockey leagues and school sports teams. Eight Ster-Kinekor cinemas, restaurants, a ten-pin bowling alley and a state-of-the-art games arcade would also form part of the Fun Factory, he said.

Also included in Phase 1 of the Baywest City development is a gym, a private school and hospital, 100 000m² of office and commercial tenants and about 2 000 housing opportunities. Phase 2 will add another 2 000 housing opportunities, a light industrial park and value retail developments. “Baywest City is a long-term investment in the region,” said Blows. “It’s going to change the face of the city and put the Bay on the leisure and corporate tourism map, growing much the same way as Century City in Cape Town has grown around Canal Walk shopping centre.”