The Eastern Cape's Lusiki Plaza opens

The plaza is opposite the recently expanded Saint Elizabeth regional hospital on the edge of the current CBD, with added convenience resulting from major upgrades to the present road infrastructure.

The R150-million project has brought extensive job opportunities and much-needed development to the surrounding communities with between 300 and 350 permanent direct jobs created. The construction phase saw approximately 400 jobs created. The plaza boasts an all-inclusive tenant mix, including Shoprite, Truworths, Mr Price, Identity, Jet, African Bank, Capitec Bank, Liquor City and Cashbuild.

A further 8,000m² is planned for a second phase of the plaza to accommodate additional tenants that were unable to be accommodated within the first phase.

Additional developments

Whilst this is the first venture in the Eastern Cape for MPD, it has additional developments in neighbouring towns of Idutywa and Flagstaff in its immediate pipeline.

"Despite the rural nature of the surrounding communities, we see the massive consumer potential that the population of the Eastern Cape provides," explained MPD's MD, Jason McCormick. "In the 33 years that we have been developing retail sites, what has separated us from our competitors has been the ability to identify opportunity where others do not - we are 100% confident that the Eastern Cape is ready for a rural development boom of increasingly formalised retail offerings."

The completion of the project contributes to the Eastern Cape Planning Commissions 2030 vision of sustainable economic growth - both for the communities immediately surrounding the development as well as those in the further outlying regions.