Edendale Mall is serving its community again.
Located in Plessislaer in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, Edendale Mall was severely damaged in the riots that took place in July 2021.
READ: Edendale Mall reopens for trade following July 2021 riot damage
Owned by rural and township retail specialists, Exemplar REITail, the mall has welcomed back an extensive tenant mix that caters to the fashion conscience, experience seeking consumer. In order to ensure the community had access to convenient retail as soon as possible, the mall was rebuilt in phases, with the first phase reopened in August of last year.
The reopening of the third and final phase of the mall brings Exemplar’s July unrest rebuild journey to a close.
The company’s asset base was severely impacted by the events that unfolded just under two years ago with five centres across Gauteng and KZN affected. While four of those five were rebuilt and trading by the 2021 Festive Season, Edendale Mall required a strategic rethink.
"The team took the opportunity to recreate the Edendale Mall we had always envisioned,” says CEO of Exemplar, Jason McCormick. “Inspired by the community that we had grown with from the original opening in 2011, we relooked at our tenant mix, consolidated our GLA and designed a more compact but no less impressive centre of 30 000sqm."
Phase 1 of the development was opened in August 2022 with a focus on food, healthcare and banking. Phase 2, opened in November 2022, saw the reopening of an additional grocery anchor and the food court. It was Phase 3, opened in late March, that saw the real wow factor being revealed as the fashion corridor was opened to link Phase 1 and 2 together.
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Key tenants include Shoprite, Boxer, Woolworths, Clicks, McDonalds, Absa, Nedbank, Standard Bank, Capitec, FNB and OMF. Fashion tenants include Mr Price, Truworths, Markham and Totalsports amongst others.
As has become expected from Exemplar assets, the mall has a strong community entertainment element. An all-weather sports field for community soccer and netball lovers; an events court for weekly aerobics, local performers and community markets; as well as the next ‘Kasi CoLAB’ have all been added to the mix to help uplift and empower the community.
First opened at the Mall of Thembisa in Gauteng, the Kasi CoLAB is a township retail incubator that allows local design entrepreneurs the opportunity to get to grips with the retail environment.
A shared space for collaboration, members of the CoLAB have the opportunity to expose their brand to a large customer base while coming to grips with things like shop fitting, window displays, marketing, stock management and customer service – all in a prime location, rent free.
The Edendale Mall Kasi CoLAB will be the third in the portfolio and is planned to start trading in September, with the talent search for local entrepreneurs currently underway.
Vastly increased natural lighting, expanded walkways, elevated bulkheads and uniquely laid tiling all contribute to the updated image of the centre.
"Now we rise to the challenge of our upcoming pipeline of developments. Our next ten projects span 246,000 sqm of retail space, serving 1,705 million people in the most under-serviced regions of the country. With Tshakhuma Mall opening in September, we are also focusing on our Dan City, Capital Mall, Leratong City, Vuwani Mall and Idutywa Mall developments. It is great to focus all of our energy on new builds again," says Jason.
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