{"id":779268,"date":"2024-07-05T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-05T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=779268"},"modified":"2024-07-05T15:40:39","modified_gmt":"2024-07-05T13:40:39","slug":"thes-biggest-vs-busiest-shopping-mall-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/779268\/thes-biggest-vs-busiest-shopping-mall-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s biggest shopping mall versus the busiest one"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An analysis of South Africa\u2019s biggest shopping centre, Fourways Mall, and the busiest, Mall of Africa, shows the latter is a much better investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last few weeks, Fourways Mall and Mall of Africa made headlines for big investments in these prominent properties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, the Competition Commission approved a R1.07 billion deal for Attacq Waterfall Investment Company (AWIC) to buy 20% of Mall of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approval followed the May 2024 announcement that Attacq, through its subsidiary, AWIC, was set to acquire the remaining 20% stake in Mall of Africa from the Atterbury Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the deal, Attacq Waterfall Investment Company held an 80% stake in Mall of Africa, which means that it would now own 100%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition was good news for Attacq, a JSE-listed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), as Mall of Africa is performing well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mall of Africa, which opened its doors on 28 April 2016, is South Africa\u2019s biggest single-phase mall development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It boasts 130,000 square meters of retail space, over 300 shops, and the southern hemisphere’s largest rooftop Solar PV system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of 31 December 2023, Mall of Africa\u2019s compounded annual trading density growth over the past three years was 16.1%. Its rent-to-turnover ratio was 7.5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attacq\u2019s latest annual report showed that the positive retail trade in Mall of Africa resulted in a 91.6% increase in turnover rental and a 71.4% increase in third-party income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA 10.8% growth in rental income for the year was supported by 21 new brands being introduced, 16 store upgrades, and 33 leases renewed,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attacq CEO Jackie van Niekerk said they were delighted with acquiring 100% of Mall of Africa because it is one of their flagship retail assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSole ownership of Mall of Africa will allow control over the asset in influencing growth and trade,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Niekerk added that they aim for Mall of Africa to remain one of South Africa\u2019s top-performing super-regional malls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fourways Mall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The news around Fourways Mall, which has been struggling following an expensive reconstruction in 2019, has also been encouraging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourways Mall is South Africa\u2019s largest shopping centre with a gross lettable area (GLA) of 178,000 square meters and 350 stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, following its re-launch in 2019, Fourways Mall has been unable to live up to expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mall\u2019s net rent per square meter declined from R298 in 2020 to R262 in 2023, and it was struggling to retain tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these problems, Fourways Mall is investing in a strategic renewal with Flanagan & Gerard and Moolman Group as new asset and property managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2024, the newly assembled Fourways Mall management team revealed its targeted focus areas for the next six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis collaboration marks a pivotal juncture in the mall\u2019s journey towards cementing its position as the premier shopping destination in its primary and secondary catchment areas,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strategic renewal includes a comprehensive six-month plan to enhance the mall\u2019s infrastructure and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This plan will prioritise the implementation of improved signage for seamless navigation to and from the mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will introduce new tenants, deploy full backup power, enhance parking area lighting, and upgrade security measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will also optimise traffic flow, enlarge parking bays, and revitalise the surrounding area, focusing on taxi services, hawkers, landscaping, and traffic light systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe initial six-month strategy is poised to lay the foundation for the overarching objective of re-establishing Fourways Mall as a top-tier shopping destination,\u201d the mall said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The execution is making progressing well. On 13 June 2024, Fourways Mall announced a new taxi holding area to alleviate road congestion and offer commuters quick and safe access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has now expanded its commuter court, which forms part of the revitalisation project. The court manages traffic flow inside and outside the Fourways Mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourways Mall versus Mall of Africa<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A side-by-side comparison is interesting because the two malls are fighting for market share in the highly competitive shopping centre market in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below gives an overview of key performance indicators of Fourways Mall and Mall of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measure<\/strong><\/td>Fourways Mall<\/strong><\/td>Mall of Africa<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Trading density<\/td>R3,699\/m\u00b2<\/td>R4,244\/m\u00b2<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Valuation<\/td>R8,034,975,994<\/strong><\/td>R5,794,958,000<\/td><\/tr>
Gross lettable area<\/td>178,202 m\u00b2<\/strong><\/td>131,038 m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr>
Value<\/td>R45,275 m\u00b2<\/strong><\/td>R44,777\/m\u00b2<\/td><\/tr>
Vacancy rate<\/td>15.90%<\/td>4.38%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Number of stores<\/td>437<\/strong><\/td>304<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An analysis of South Africa\u2019s biggest shopping centre, Fourways Mall, and the busiest, Mall of Africa, provides an interesting view of the two properties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":768909,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[11493,19746,11178],"class_list":["post-779268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-attacq","tag-fourways-mall","tag-mall-of-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779268"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":781186,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779268\/revisions\/781186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}