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The developers of the R1.7bn Bay West Mall, have unveiled plans for a massive ice rink that will be one of the centre-pieces of the upcoming super regional mall.
Speaking at at on on-site media briefing on Wednesday, project principal agent, John Townsend, said the project was progressing well and they remain on track to complete construction by March 2015.
He said negotiations for an ice rink were at an advanced stages, adding that the 87,500m² mall will be comparable to other major shopping malls in South Africa.
"The actual construction period is 23 months which will be done by Murray and Robberts building and we will be trading by March 2015. It's probably one of the biggest in the Eastern Cape as a first build and be comparable with malls like Sandton City, Canal Walk, The Pavillion and Gateway in South Africa." said Townsend.
The construction phase of the mall will create up to 10,000 jobs - 3,000 through direct employment and more than 7,000 indirect and induced jobs.
A further 1,500 permanent jobs will be created for staff employees at more than 250 retail outlets.
Project Manager, Chris Beech, says the mall development is headed up by joint developers Abacus Asset Management and Billion Group.
"The owners from the Billion group come from the Eastern Cape, and the Abacuss group come from Cape Town. The joint developers are two of the largest
privately owned development companies in South Africa. They are responsible for a substantial number of malls around the country, Billion for example is the developer of Hemingways Mall in East London." says Beech.
Project Principal Agent John Townsend and Billion group Project Executive Roy Lighton on the construction site of Bay West Mall
