Photo by: Megan van Wyngaardt
Property management company Citiq on Wednesday launched its R30-million mall-meets-market shopping centre, 27Boxes.
The centre, located in Third avenue, in Melville, was built using 102 shipping containers. It hosted about 80 stores selling clothing, décor and art, as well as restaurants and coffee shops.
Citiq CEO Paul Lapham noted that this was Citiq’s first retail centre, adding that about 80% of the stores already had their doors open and that the property had a vacancy of only 2%. “Each tenant has been selected according to a strict set of criteria to ensure an eclectic mix of options, guaranteed to suit every taste.
“The first step for us was to determine if tenants would love this concept and we have ticked that box,” he quipped.
The centre offered tenants short-term rental options of about three months, adding to the market feel, but also offered longer-term rentals of between two and three years.
Lapham explained that small businesses could rent affordable space in a secure and central environment.
Asked how many people were expected to visit 27Boxes a month, Lapham told Engineering News Online that it was difficult to determine, but with the retail centre offering 200 parking bays and the area having about 600 parking spots, there was significant opportunity.
“Already we have seen a lot of interest over weekends, so we are expecting a really good turnout, particularly with Spring around the corner,” he said.
Construction on 27Boxes started in September 2014 and Lapham added that it took about two weeks to build.
“Finishing around the containers took around another three months,” he said.
The original idea for the 27Boxes retail centre came from a similar project in London, known as Boxpark. The centre was designed by Citiq MD Arthur Blake.