Liberty Promenade Shopping Centre re-launches following two year R500-million upgrade
Liberty Promenade Shopping Centre in Mitchells Plain was re-launched today by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille following a R500-million expansion project that turned the world class Mitchells Plain complex into the second largest shopping centre in the province.
The launch event in Liberty Promenade’s new Food Court today was hosted by Liberty Properties CEO Samuel Ogbu and General Manager of Coastal Regions at Liberty Properties, Thea Marx. Guests at the event included local government officials, police, traffic, disaster management, schools and the local chamber of commerce.
Liberty Promenade is one of the largest shopping centre in Liberty Properties’ R24-billion (1.5 million m²) property portfolio, and one of the largest investments in the Western Cape to date. The Liberty Property Portfolio also includes Sandton City, Nelson Mandela Square and Eastgate Shopping Centre in Gauteng, Liberty Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg and Greenacres in Port Elizabeth.
In the past eight years Liberty Promenade has established itself as the centre of a vibrant, diverse and fast-growing community in Mitchell’s Plain. It currently attracts a million visitors a month.
Launching the centre, Premier Zille said November 22 would always be remembered as a watershed day in South Africa, but that good news such as the launch of Liberty Promenade that benefited the local economy showed that there was still hope for the future in South Africa. November 22 has been dubbed “Black Tuesday” – the day MPs voted to move forward on the controversial Protection of State Information Bill.
Zille said if investments like Liberty Promenade flourish, it creates a “virtuous cycle” that could push back negative developments in South Africa. The vote in parliament was a “setback”, but hope remained for a free and prosperous South Africa. “We will defeat through growth and development,” Zille said.
“In South Africa the good news always outweighs the bad news. And Cape Town is on a roll,”, Zille said, having been voted the top global tourist city by TripAdvisor, World Design Capital 2014, one of the 10 hippest cities in the world –meaning it attracts young talent who want to build a future in Cape Town, signifying a reversal of the brain drain Cape Town saw 10 years ago – Table Mountain becoming one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and Cape Town being rated in the top 10 study abroad destinations.
“But the cherry on top is when big investors like Liberty Properties come to Cape Town. We are very encouraged by Liberty Properties’ assessment that Cape Town, and Mitchells Plain, is a great place to invest. We will not rest until we are among the top 10 investment destinations in the world,” Zille said.
Zille said investors are attracted to places “where the government is seen as more or less corruption free, where things work and there is economic growth”. Zille said South Africa needed on average 8% sustained economic growth in order to make a dent in the country’s biggest problem, unemployment. She was pleased that Liberty Promenade had created 1200 permanent jobs for locals in the past few years and what this meant for the local economy.
Liberty Properties CEO Samuel Ogbu, said at the event: “This is an investment not only Mitchells Plan and Liberty can be proud of, but that South Africa can be proud of.”
“Investment in infrastructure, facilities and services is key to improving quality of life and an essential part of uplifting areas such as Mitchell's Plain that previously did not attract their fair share of investment capital.”
Liberty Properties bought the centre from its developers in 2004 with a retail space of 42 000 m2, but the centre’s instant success called for rapid expansion. By September the following year a second phase of development had been completed, adding a further 11 000m2. Today, with the addition of an exciting new Entertainment Wing and Food Court, another 24 000 m2 – equivalent to five football fields – have been added to Liberty Promenade. Liberty Promenade now is the second largest shopping centre in the province and the largest in a high density urban neighbourhood, at about 86 000m2.
Ogbu said: “We have conducted extensive research into the market and our experience has shown that if you present an offering of sustained quality, the people of Mitchells Plain will support you. We take a very careful approach to these things because we represent hundreds of thousands of ordinary South African savers and pensioners.”
Ogbu continued: “The extension and refurbishment has entrenched the centre’s status as the preferred shopping destination of the Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha communities. We are proud of the outcome and delighted that the community has embraced it.”
Thea Marx, General Manager of Coastal Regions at Liberty Properties said: “Our R500-million investment directly benefits the community, as approximately 67% of the expansion project’s general workforce were employed from the broader Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Philippi areas.”
“The investment is also beneficial to the local community, because eight of the sub-contractors employed to assist in the construction project were local to the area, ensuring that the investment went directly into the pockets of those that the centre was built for.”
Marx said local businesses and schools also received donated reusable items that were salvaged from the construction project.
The centre now houses 185 tenants and has created 1,200 permanent jobs in two years, Marx said. The main shopping centre is also creating room for selected local entrepreneurs who previously traded informally in the Mini Mall and earned a place in the main building.
“Never in my time in property management have I seen a community so appreciative of what we’re doing. The community owns Liberty Promenade. Liberty merely writes the cheques, and that’s the way it should be,” Marx said.
“Community upliftment is an important part of Liberty’s plan, and on this project we have worked closely with the Local Council in Mitchells Plain and Urban Renewal initiative,” Ogbu said.
“Not only has the centre created many jobs, but it has become a safe, clean and entertaining gathering place for the community,” he said.
Commuters also benefit from a refurbished and covered taxi rank, while shoppers with cars can enjoy increased security with the addition of CCTV in the parking area and the appointment of additional security personnel outside.
On top of entertainment and shops, the centre also offers a medical centre that caters for the health and well-being of customers.
Liberty Promenade invests R250 000 in the community annually. Doing business by the slogan “All together better”, Liberty Promenade’s CSI investments include the Generation Green Campaign to encourage local schools to think green, the Mitchells Plain night market, the Back to School Campaign, Senior Citizens Christmas, the Women’s Day Craft Market, the Christmas Shoebox Project, the Christmas Street Market, Drug Awareness Day with the South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence(SANCA) and the Department of Social Development, the Easter Egg Drive at Easter, and other ad hoc donations.
Liberty Promenade is running a comprehensive safety campaign this Festive Season. The centre is working closely with all law enforcement agencies and has employed extra security personnel.