Queenstown to get economic boost, R500 million shopping centre
From Christmas 2012, residents of Queenstown will no longer have to drive two hours to East London for their major shopping, following the Eris Property Group's announcement of a R500 million regional shopping mall to be developed on the N6 Cathcart Road opposite the rapidly emerging area of Komani Park. Shareholders in Eris include Rand Merchant Bank, Royal Bafokeng Holdings and the Tiso Group, which recently announced its merger with Kagiso Holdings.
Phase 1 of the centre, to be known as Q Mall, will extend to 33 000m² and offer over 100 shops, including the latest style Checkers supermarket, an Edgars, and a Jet store to anchor the fashion offering. CTM will open with a new facility on the site. Phase 2 will offer a further 8000m² of additional retail and entertainment facilities in the future.
"If you can think of a retail brand, it is probably going to be in Q Mall," says Ivan Pachonick, director: retail consulting for JHI property services group, which is leasing the project. "The outstanding response from the retail sector reaffirms the strong demand and that the timing is right for a modern, regional shopping facility in Queenstown."
Well positioned for surrounding areas, development
Rob Terry, development manager of the project, says that the site's location between the overcrowded CBD and the major township of Ezebeleni means that it is ideally situated for Queenstown's shoppers. Its frontage onto the newly upgraded N6 arterial route allows easy access for surrounding areas and towns such as Cathcart, Dordrecht and others.
The new shopping centre is also located immediately opposite the proposed new 15 000m² government and municipal office precinct at Komani Park, which together with surrounding proposals for 20ha of new affordable housing was recently put out to tender.
Billy Forssman of Eris Property Group says that this is a clear indication of the importance of this area of Queenstown as the growth node for the town. "With a total of over R1 billion being spent here over the next two years we look forward to further developments to ease the pressure on the CBD. Queenstown's centre is still largely as it was laid out in the 1800's and times have changed. There are major difficulties associated with trying to access services as well as shopping there, from parking issues to congested and broken pavements and long walks between different shops. This new node will bring together all the goods, services and government departments in a single, clean, convenient and easily accessible location," he adds.
Iconic architects appointed
Q Mall is being designed by architects Boogertman and Partners in association with ADA Architects. Boogertman were the architects for the iconic new 'Calabash' design Johannesburg World Cup Stadium and recently completed the new Melrose Arch retail development in Johannesburg, as well as designing uShaka Marine World in Durban and several retail complexes around South Africa.
