Mall to reduce unemployment in Nelson Mandela Bay

14th February 2014

By: Mia Breytenbach

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: Features

  

Font size: - +

Construction of the Baywest Mall, in Port Elizabeth, officially started in June last year and Baywest City MD Gavin Blows says the scheduled opening of the mall remains March 2015 and the project is still within its budget of R1.7-billion.

Although Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Development Mcebisi Jonas said at the mall’s official launch in November last year that the development of Baywest Mall is an integral part of job creation in the Eastern Cape, Blows notes that one of the major challenges of the project is meeting the expectations of labour and the local small businesses.

“Even though the project will generate employment opportunities, it cannot provide work for all the unemployed of the region,” he adds.

“Managing the distribution of opportunities and dealing with the impact of formal national industrial action mean that any large development needs to pre- pare, manage and plan an equitable roll-out of work,” notes Blows.

However, he says that Baywest Mall, at full capacity by the end of 2015, will reduce unemployment in Nelson Mandela Bay by about 5%, while the direct impacts of the Baywest operations are expected to be felt on the local and national economy.

Currently, about 600 people are working on site, Blows says, adding that, by mid-2014, which will be the project’s peak construction period, about 2 000 workers will work on site, with 50% to 60% of the workforce coming from the local community.

After completion of the mall, about 1 500 jobs will be created during the operational phase.

The direct contribution of the mall to business sales will be more than R2-billion a year and will stimulate the national economy. Blows notes that the impact on the local Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality economy is expected to amount to about R3-billion a year.

The mall is set to attract about 800 000 visitors a month. About 80% of the mall’s tenants for retail outlets have been secured, including Game, Ster Kinekor, Truworths, Edcon Group, Woolworths, Pick n Pay and Checkers. The mall will have about 87 500 m² of lettable area when it opens, which is expected to expand to 110 000 m² over the next 10 to 15 years, he says.

“While Baywest Mall is classed as a super regional shopping centre and will be the biggest centre in the Eastern Cape, it still has a way to go to compete with other large malls,” Blows comments, who stresses that the mall will change the pattern of retail spend, not only for Port Elizabeth but also for the region, attracting customers who live up to two hours’ drive away.

“Research has shown that many small town retail offerings are in decline and shoppers from rural areas are prepared to travel great distances once a week to do their shopping,” he says, noting that Baywest will attract most of these customers, owing to the size and quality of the national tenants that will trade at the mall.

The mall’s size, design and location, as well as the new road infrastructure, will redirect not only the retail economy but also the commercial, light industrial and residential areas of Port Elizabeth, Blows notes.

The mall developers, Abacus Asset Management and Billion Group, have reached agreement with the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and the South African National Roads Agency on a joint funding initiative for the area’s R300-million road network upgrade, of which the Nelson Mandela Bay munici- pality is contributing about 15% of the budgeted costs.

“This upgrade will benefit current local residents by linking the suburbs of Sherwood with Rowallan Park through a new multilane interchange, which will not only bridge the N2 but also provide much-needed on- and off-ramps,” says Blows.

He notes that these new N2 access and egress points will relieve the current traffic con- gestion problems during peak hours; they are also expected to stimulate growth in these suburbs.

Other features of the mall will include current best green practices once it is completed, Blows says, explaining that the mall’s design is specifically set low to reduce the visual impact on the surrounding area.

He notes that almost 30% of the 320 ha has been set aside as a protected area to conserve the natural fauna and flora.

Further, the mall also promotes energy efficiency. “The architect, DHK, will increase the use of natural light in the mall to limit the heat load on the centre and the firm has engineered plans to harvest rainwater for irrigation purposes,” Blows says, adding that the green practices will include targeted energy savings with respect to lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

“Solar power will be implemented to power precinct security devices, while solar-powered streetlights will be installed at certain parking areas,” he concludes.

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION