New mall for oThongathi
THE ill-fated Tongaat Mall, which collapsed during construction in 2013 killing two people and injuring 29 others, is to be rebuilt as Palm Crescent.
It will not only create jobs in oThongathi, but offer residents the opportunity to shop at bigname retail stores such as Spar, Woolworths, Markhams and Totalsports, its new owners say.
“The mall will not have an entertainment component but it will become a convenient neighbourhood centre, where residents do not have to worry about going elsewhere to shop as often as they once did,” said property developer Holger Peens of Keystone Investments.
“They can perhaps now go to Gateway (in uMhlanga) once a month.”
The original mall, which now stands in ruins, has been the focus of a lengthy commission of inquiry led by the Department of Labour.
The aim of the inquiry, which ended earlier this year, is to determine if negligence led to the partial collapse.
According to reports, the National Prosecuting Authority is to determine if anyone should be prosecuted.
The original developer was Rectangle Property Investments, whose director was Ravi Jagadasan.
His father is well-known businessman and property developer Jay Singh.
Peens said a sale agreement was signed with Rectangle Property Investments earlier this year but the site was yet to be transferred to them for development as it was still under of the control of the Department of Labour.
He could not divulge the price tag, saying it was subject to a confidentiality agreement.
But the cost to build Palm Crescent is expected to be in the region of R250 million.
Peens added that parts of the mall would be demolished.
This included areas that had collapsed as well as a section towards a nearby railway line.
The developer added that this would be done under the watch of engineer Rob Young of Young and Satharia Consulting Structural and Civil Engineers, lead engineer for Durban’s King Shaka International Airport.
“We are hoping the site is released to us by the department in about a month,” he said
“Our building plans have already been submitted to the municipality and we are liaising with them.
“At this stage we are expecting the mall to open in October 2016.”
He said Palm Crescent would have two levels – a main retail level with 50 stores and a banking court underneath.
It would offer 1 000 parking bays.
During construction between 500 and 1 000 temporary jobs are expected to be created with between 200 to 300 permanent posts thereafter.
The tenants, said Peens, had been encouraged to employ local labour.
When asked why they saw fit to build a mall in oThongathi (Tongaat), he said: “This is a great opportunity.
“The mall is part of the CBD, which is normally difficult to find, and one of the benefits is that it is easily accessible.
“The community needs this and Tongaat can do with a nice upmarket shopping centre.
“We hope that Palm Crescent will serve as a catalyst for other property developers to make inroads into the area.”
Co-developer Richter van Niekerk, of Richter van Niekerk Properties, added: “From what I’ve seen and heard, people want a mall in Tongaat.
“There will also be a lot of benefits for the residents.
“This includes having bigname stores and job creation.”
He said the mall currently resembled a ruin after the partial collapse. But all that would change once the land was released to them.
Jay Singh’s spokesman, Mervyn Reddy, said they were awaiting the finalisation of the report into the inquiry and a decision from the Department of Labour on when the land would be released to Rectangle Property Investments before they would comment.
The Department of Labour referred queries pertaining to the release of land to the eThekwini Municipality.
The municipality had not commented at the time of publication.