Top South African shopping mall in serious trouble

·24 Feb 2025

Brooklyn Mall, one of the top shopping destinations in Pretoria, is making progress in its turnaround plan to reduce crippling vacancies and restore confidence and investment.

The mall is one of Gauteng’s largest shopping centres, covering 75,259 square meters and featuring 220 stores.

It opened in 1989 and services affluent customers from Menlo Park, Lynnwood, Waterkloof and Waterkloof Ridge.

The centre is in a prime location in Pretoria, sitting near South Africa’s ’embassy’ district close to 121 embassies, 77 guesthouses and hotels, 55 schools, and the University of Pretoria with 62,000 students.

However, despite this prime positioning, the mall has struggled in recent years, suffering from shops leaving the mall and security issues.

Its vacancy rate increased from 3.6% in 2019 to 18.7% in 2024, while gross rental income per square meter declined in tandem.

Brooklyn Mall’s gross rental income declined from R306.87 per square meter in 2019 to R260.56 per square meter in 2024.

The mall is 75% owned and operated by Growthpoint Properties, the largest South African primary real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The group’s shareholding value in the mall has also declined significantly over the years, dropping from R2 billion in 2019 to about R1.65 billion in 2022, after which the group stopped disclosing these values.

Financial reports indicate that Brooklyn’s struggles coincided with the broader shock to South Africa’s retail space during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns from 2020 to 2023.

The retail sector, along with the rest of South Africa’s economy, also suffered from the impact of load shedding and rising global inflation, which tanked households and businesses.

There has also been increased competition in the wider area that Brooklyn covers, with other shopping malls popping up to serve the same customers.

Reports of vagrants and other safety risks at the mall also became prevalent.

Growthpoint specifically attributed Brooklyn’s struggles to “stubborn vacancies” in 2024, recording 10,565 sqm of vacancies due to Game vacating in May and Weylandts in June of that year.

These spaces were subsequently relet, but the pressure remained due to empty office space and the loss of Ster Kinekor’s Cinema Nouveau.

The group recorded over R36 million in capital expenditure going to the mall in 2024 as part of a broader turnaround strategy for its retail portfolio.

What is happening at Brooklyn Mall

Space that looks like it should be occupied by stores has been closed up.

Brooklyn Mall subsequently launched various initiatives to boost its standing, including upgrading stores, creating more space and diversifying its tenant mix.

It added prominent fashion brands like Steve Madden, Miekeraai, Levi’s, and Birkenstock—and existing tenants either widened or upgraded their space.

One of the mall’s biggest tenants, Woolworths, upgraded its stores in the centre with a R50 million-plus investment.

Stores like Yuppiechef, Volpes, Sterlings, Golden Goose, Mr Price Home, Cielo and @Home all increased space.

This has marked the start of a more upbeat performance at Brooklyn, with Growthpoint’s three-month update ending September 2024 pointing to a reduction in vacancies at the mall.

“We reduced vacancies at Brooklyn Mall, where we expect further reductions as FY25 progresses,” it said.

BusinessTech asked Brooklyn’s management about progress at the mall and the impact of its turnaround strategy, but they did not respond by the time of publication.

BusinessTech visited the mall to see firsthand the progress of its turnaround strategy.

The mall was quite busy, and many stores were open and well-stocked. However, some sections of the mall were noticeably quieter, with vacant space still waiting for new tenants.

However, reflecting its stated strategy, many new stores were primed to open in the coming months, many set to open in March 2025.

Other established stores were also in the process of expanding their spaces, and some pop-up stores were also around, temporarily filling some open store space.

The Woolworths, in particular, showed a significantly upgraded space, covering two floors and having all the upmarket facilities attached, including a WCafe and WCellar.

Growthpoint is expected to publish its interim results, ending December 2024, in March.