{"id":873310,"date":"2026-09-04T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=873310"},"modified":"2026-09-04T11:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T09:32:46","slug":"historic-114-year-old-building-in-south-africa-that-was-turned-into-a-shopping-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/lifestyle\/873310\/historic-114-year-old-building-in-south-africa-that-was-turned-into-a-shopping-mall\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic 114-year-old building in South Africa that was turned into a shopping mall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Tramshed mall in Pretoria was built around the same time as the Union Buildings and originally served as a tram depot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original building was constructed in 1912 as a tram depot for the city’s growing public transport systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The city began using trams in 1897, and they were originally horse-drawn carriages, but the system was suspended during the Anglo-Boer War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system had 50 horses drawing eight trams between two operating stations, and was introduced by the Pretoria Tramway Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1910, horse-drawn carriages were replaced by 14 electric trams, with routes serving what is now the Pretoria Zoo, Sunnyside, and Pretoria West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tram routes were later extended to run from Church Street, the system’s main hub, to the Union Buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These trams were operated by the Pretoria municipality at the time, which also started placing advertisements on the vehicles to generate additional revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretoria’s public transport system was not the first tram service in South Africa, as Cape Town began using them in 1863.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretoria’s tram network operated for nearly 40 years, with the last trip taken in 1939 from Church Square to Sunnyside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original trams were replaced after this by trolley buses, which still used overhead lines but did not need to run on tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tramshed was built in Pretoria Central, on what is now Francis Baard Street, to store and service the trams when not in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building is one of the only surviving remnants of this system, along with parts of the original tracks and the tram stop in Church Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tramshed today<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Today, the Tramshed is a mall serving Pretoria Central with stores such as Pick n Pay, Dischem, and Virgin Active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre also features several clothing and beauty outlets, as well as a Capitec Bank branch and government offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mall has approximately 12,800 square metres of lettable space and is close to Pretoria’s public transport hubs and major roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building still features many of the original design aspects from when it served as a transport depot, including its redbrick walls and metal roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The space has undergone renovations to modernise it, such as installing large windows and redesigning the mall’s outdoor spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the end of 2025, Market at the Sheds was a monthly event in Pretoria that brought together vendors and live music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the name may sound similar to the Tramshed, the two are not directly linked, but are both unique offerings in Pretoria Central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What began as a cultural market quickly became a much-loved platform for music, food, design, creativity and connection,” Market at the Shed said on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event would feature a variety of local food and retail vendors, as well as performances from South African musicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this event has not been officially cancelled, no market or public event has been held at the Tramshed since December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On its website, Markets at the Shed said it is currently focused on private events, collaborations, and new opportunities to bring the market to different spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The experience, network and know-how behind Market at the Sheds now shape our private events, Made in Mzansi experiences, market infrastructure and partnership work,” the company said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Over more than a decade, the Market brought together local entrepreneurs, musicians, makers, artists and audiences \u2014 building a strong community and a distinctly Pretoria experience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tramshed Mall is owned and operated by Emira Property, a JSE-Listed real estate investment trust (REIT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emira owns several malls in South Africa, such as the Ben Fleur shopping centre, Randridge Mall, and the Wonderpark shopping centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also has significant residential and commercial property holdings in South Africa, as well as several retail spaces in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of the Tramshed Mall<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Tramshed mall in Pretoria Central began its life in 1912, serving the city’s historic tram system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":873436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2095829488869245373","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2195617284592004","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18095416946564417","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9876],"tags":[26384,26383,8291,26382],"class_list":["post-873310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-emira-property","tag-markets-at-the-shed","tag-pretoria","tag-tramshed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873310","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\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873310"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873462,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873310\/revisions\/873462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}