New mall for Bela-Bela

The single level Bela Mall is a 17,800sqm convenience shopping centre development, located on a prime site on the R101, near the N1 highway to Polokwane, which enjoys excellent access from all the main arterial routes in Bela-Bela, will have more than 50 outlets and over 800 parking bays.

There is a top line-up of retailers including anchor tenants Checkers and Game and several brands of the Edcon group, Foschini group and Truworths group. Other retailers and noted brands that will have a presence at the mall include Clicks, Panarottis, McDonalds, FNB, Capitec Bank, Pep, MTN, Crazy Plastics and the Crazy Store, amongst others.

"The residents of Bela-Bela and surrounds are very excited and are looking forward to the opening of the mall, which will offer the best quality shopping experience in the town. Currently all national retailers are scattered within the town. This is the first mall in Bela-Bela where most national tenants will be under one roof," says Zahn Hulme of Atterbury Property Developments.

Besides the McDonalds Drive-thru and Panarottis, other eateries will include a Chesanyama outlet and Galaxy Grill (opening in early 2015).

"More than 80% of the space has been let and we are finalising leases for the remaining space to offer a diverse tenant mix and shopping offering. In addition to being a major investment in the town and offering an exciting new shopping hub for residents, it is set to create employment for more than 400 people, 80% of which will be from the local community," says Hulme.

Atterbury's project manager on the development, Gerrit van den Berg, adds, "We are also contributing towards the fixing of potholes and landscaping upgrades at the main road intersection, as part of our investment in the Bela Mall project, which is the company's largest development to date in Limpopo. It previously developed the Thornhill Shopping centre in Polokwane."

Bela Mall will be the company's fifth new mall opening this year. The Waterfall Corner neighbourhood centre and The Club Shopping Centre in Hazelwood, Pretoria, opened in April, while Waterfall Lifestyle Centre opened in July. The latest opening was the R1.3 billion Newtown Junction development in the Johannesburg CBD on 25 September.