Cape Town, South Africa

Despite the global economic downturn, the number of expected shopping centre completions for 2009 looks promising, Colliers Property and Facilities Management said on Wednesday.

Gauteng topped the growth chart with 70 500 square metres planned for Johannesburg and 85 000 square metres for Pretoria in the next 12 months, while 10 200 square metres had been planned for Cape Town and 35 000 square metres for Durban.

"With an increase in the need for secure shopping space, the past 15 years have seen unprecedented growth in the demand for shopping centre retail space in South Africa, resulting in a significant shift in shopping focus from central business districts (CBDs) to suburban areas," said Sanett Uys, director.

Retail space rentals across the four major cities in the country clearly illustrated this, with Durban enjoying the highest average monthly prime high street rental (R405 per square metre), Cape Town R311 per square metre and Pretoria R284 per square metre, compared with Johannesburg at R203 per square metre.

Uys said the difference between rentals of shopping centres and high street outlets hinged on supply and demand.

"Durban, for example, does not have a large supply of well maintained high street retail space, but the little it has is in demand and attracts high rentals."

Cape Town commanded the highest prime shopping rentals at R689 per square metre, with Johannesburg and Pretoria at R580 per square metre, and Durban the lowest at R486 per square metre.

"There have always been certain shopping centres in high demand, such as the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and Sandton Square in Johannesburg, both of which have a long waiting list of companies jostling for retail spots.

This is likely to lessen as economic conditions worsen, particularly in the smaller centres," said Uys.

About Colliers International

Colliers International is a global affiliation of independently owned commercial real estate firms. The organization's 10,092 employees span the world in 267 offices in 57 countries. On a worldwide basis, Colliers manages 672,945,918 square feet, and has revenue of $US 1,620,958,349.

Contact Information

Sanett Uys

sanettu@colliers.co.za

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