Iconic mall construction springs to life at Blue Crane Eco Park

"We are delighted that construction on Springs Mall at Blue Crane Eco Park is finally underway now that all outstanding town planning hurdles have been overcome," says Patrick Flanagan, Executive Director of Flanagan & Gerard Property Development and Investment.

"At just shy of a billion rand (R950 million), this exciting regional shopping centre development is a major investment in Springs. It is great that the local council has given all the relevant approvals."

Family expertise

The mall project is the brainchild of the Springs based D'Arrigo family. For three generations the D'Arrigo family has lived in Springs and is passionately invested in its future. The development also benefits from the leading knowledge of a respected and experienced team of business and retail property developers and investors at Flanagan & Gerard and the Giuricich Brothers construction company. Noted as one of South Africa's leading private construction companies, Giuricich Brothers is family controlled and has been in existence for 75 years.

Flanagan & Gerard is one of South Africa's leading shopping centre developers with an excellent record of accomplishment in dominant regional shopping centres, including Vaal Mall, Highveld Mall, Mall of the North and Middelburg Mall as well as the new Ballito Junction regional mall, which is under construction, amongst others.

"With our different expertise, as joint developers and owners of Springs Mall at Blue Crane Eco Park, we plan to build a regional shopping centre that the Springs' community can be proud of," says Franco D'Arrigo.

"The mall is set to become a landmark retail asset that serves the region's consumers with a top quality shopping experience. Besides providing an exceptional shopping destination, Springs Mall will also introduce many economic benefits such as local jobs during construction and permanent positions once the mall is completed. It will also keep valuable retail spend within Springs."

"It's great to be part of this exciting development; not only as investors and joint owners, but our construction company, Giuricich Bros Construction is playing a key role as the main contractors. Earthworks contractors are on site with the main construction set to start soon," says Gerard Giuricich of Murinda Investments.

Location is excellent

Destined to become a dominant mall in the region, the new Springs Mall will benefit from an excellent location in the suburb of Casseldale. It is easily accessible at the intersection of the N17 highway and R51/Wit Road and has excellent accessibility off the N17 and Wit and Jan Smuts Roads.

Giuricich comments, "As part of the earthworks contract, there will be a realignment of Jan Smuts Road (along the Northern side of the site). When Springs Mall opens in March 2017, it will have eye-catching frontage on the N17 highway. Its striking visibility means people travelling on the N17 highway will be able to see the two-level mall from some distance away. The mall will also act as an interceptor on the N17 for people travelling to Mpumalanga and Swaziland."

Meanwhile, to help mitigate the impact of load shedding and as part of several green features of the mall, the joint venture developers are investigating the installation of solar generated power, with the intention of using this, if viable, as a supplement to the municipal electricity supply.

"We are trying to employ as many environmentally sustainable measures as possible in the mall's development. The use of natural light is a key part of the mall's design, as are other green building interventions," explains Patrick Flanagan.

Springs Mall is also part of the broader Blue Crane Eco Park development. It will form the anchor of the development, which will see further commercial development on 10 hectares of land surrounding the mall.

Top tenants sign up

"We have already attracted several of South Africa's leading retailers and brands. In fact, the mall is already 80% let almost two years before it opens. Now we are selecting the balance to offer a great tenant mix and shopping offering of around 120 stores and outlets."

Anchor tenants signed up include Pick n Pay, Checkers, Woolworths and Edgars. Other major national retailers that are also set to be part of the tenant mix at the new Springs Mall include the Foschini Group, Truworths, Mr Price, HiFi Corporation, Clicks, Dis-Chem and Incredible Connection and more. The mall will also boast family entertainment and restaurants.

Leasing is progressing apace with a wide variety of restaurants, electronics, gifting, décor, banking, services, health and beauty and fashion retailers set to be part of the mall's top-notch tenant mix.

Springs Mall will also offer the convenience of free open-air parking on both its shopping levels with easy shopper access from both parking areas, through four entrances.

The mall will act as a stimulus for the economy of Springs, see local retail Rands being spent in Springs and provide an icon for the town. The inhabitants of Springs will further benefit by being able to patronise a number of stores and brands that are currently not trading in the town.

"Clearly much needed permanent jobs will be created once the centre opens for trade, sales assistants, merchandisers, packers, and cleaning and security personnel will largely be drawn from the local communities. Members of the local community should also note that during the construction phase, limited job opportunities of a non-permanent nature will be available," concludes Flanagan.