Bridge City Shopping Centre reopens
THE Bridge City Shopping Centre in KwaMashu reopened last week following extensive damage during the riots and looting of July 2021.
The centre is owned by the Futuregrowth Community Property Fund and managed by Capital Land Asset Management.
It opened in 2009 in the centre of Bridge City, a mixed-use precinct which connects the communities of Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu.
The centre was developed to stimulate economic growth and empower these communities through improved access to public transport, employment opportunities, services and retail offerings.
During a media tour a day before the reopening, Anton Raubenheimer, the executive director of Capital Land Asset Management Proprietary Limited, said Capital Land was an organisation focused on developing South Africa.
“We are committed to providing jobs and opportunities within communities, which is what Bridge City Mall aims to do.”
Smital Rambhai, the fund manager for Futuregrowth Asset Management Proprietary Limited, said the project took 21 months to complete.
“The July 2021 riots caused devastating damage to Bridge City Mall. About 1 500 people lost their jobs and an estimated 10 000 lives were affected. The mall provided income for many families from Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu.
“The key in our mission was to restore essential stores for the community, thus having the mall up and running again."
Rambhai said the only difficulty was getting everything co-ordinated.
“Thankfully, the April floods had no impact on the construction. We were fortunate not to be stuck twice.”
The damage to the mall was estimated at R700 million.
This included rental losses and the redevelopment.
“We faced no challenges during construction. In fact, the old shopping centre needed an upgrade. Things like the air-conditioner ducts and issues needed to be seen to, so we looked at the riot as an opportunity to redo the mall the proper way.”
The mall has 95 stores: 93% started trading last week with 7% of shops still vacant.
“By September, we expect the vacant shops to be occupied. The reason for its vacancy is because people are still nervous about what happened with the riots, so they are testing the waters before they decide to open stores.
“The fact that the big national brands are here means other stores will want to open soon.
“Most of the shops are returning
stores from before the riots. The foot traffic to this mall amounts to 1.4 million people. In terms of people coming through the doors and the revenue these retails are generating, it’s a no-brainer to reopen.
“The location is perfect. You have the train station, taxi rank, hospital and magistrate’s court around the mall, so there is constant foot traffic.
“When we contacted the retailers to come back, they were more than happy.”
Most customers come from KwaMashu, Inanda and Ntuzuma with a small flow from Phoenix.
She said they anticipated that all the jobs would be reinstated.
“About 1500 jobs will be restored. For maintenance workers, we employ local community members so we can create job opportunities. Preferences are given to local businesses before we look out.”
The Bridge City Shopping Centre is a double-level, enclosed centre with anchor tenants Shoprite, SuperSpar and Woolworths.
It is easily accessible via nine entrances which accommodate shoppers accessing the centre on foot from the surrounding community, via public transport and in private vehicles.
The main entrance to the shopping centre from the train station is located on the ground level and the newly established taxi rank provides commuters with direct access into the centre.
The roof top provides ample parking.