Maerua Mall is set to undergo some major renovations, with property owner, Oryx Properties confirming that it is currently in the planning phase for the project, which is subject to raising the required capital, with a team to advise on the planned changes having been appointed.
“We have hired one of the most professional teams in South Africa and Namibia. We are putting something together that is going to be fantastic. Obviously, this is subject to us being able to raise the funding, but we have a plan with Maerua, which is great,” Oryx CEO, Ben Jooste said.
What’s planned
He said the Namibian Stock Exchange listed company was targeting a mixed use development concept for the property, including outside restaurants.
“It’s very much focused on a complete mix use concept, which is about making sure people can work, live and play on site. The Idea would be to cater for outside restaurants, to ensure that not only will the mall be modern, but it will also provide social connection points when the consumer passes through,” the Oryx CEO said.
Costing and timelines
Jooste was, however, tightlipped on the forecasted project costs and timelines.
“That is not for public announcement at this point, but what is important is we have created a vision for the asset and what we doing now is going through the plans to cost, the timeline and the next for us will be to connect with the investors. The good thing is we have lots of plans for Maerua, which we believe will really improve the site and also bring more feet to the mall,” he said.
Mall traffic
Jooste said the company was concerned about the traffic to Maerua Mall, which the planned renovations are expected to address.
“We are always as a business concerned and looking heavily at our feet count. Interesting enough our feet count is now back to 2019 levels, so we have seen an uptick in our feet count in Maerua. We are not where we want to be yet. Obviously, we want to improve. With this plan, we working heavily to improve, bring new tenants that will take the asset to the next level. We very excited because the professional team we have appointed, also includes retail specialists that will help us improve the tenant mix in the mall,” he said.
Oryx has a property portfolio worth N$3.18 billion as at June 2021, made up of Maerua Mall, Baines Shopping Centre and Gustav Voigts centre among others.
FY results highlights
- Revenue marginally increased to N$336.482 million from N$332.777 million prior year.
- Net rental income came in at N$227.514 million
- The company recorded a total comprehensive loss of N$32.1 million.
