PHILLIMON MHLANGA
Zimre Property Investments (ZPI) has completed its US$15m shopping mall project in the resort town of Victoria Falls in record time.
The mall, whose space has been taken up, is sitting on 1,8 hectares.
Some of the tenants that have signed up include Pick n Pay which is the anchor tenant occupying about 3 700 square metres, Puma Service Station, NetOne, Simbisa Brands, FBC Bank, Nedbank, NMB Bank, TV Sales, Adidas, Liquid Telecom and ZOL.
ZPI managing director Edson Muvingi said the Sawanga project was funded largely from internal resources, with 99% coming from equity funds while the balance was borrowed from ZB Bank, which provided a $2 million loan to go towards the project.
“We are 99% complete and by end of this month all tenants will be in. This has been a 13 month-journey in terms of execution, which is a record time. The tenant mix here talks to how people live. You will find out that we have a service station (Puma) which always walks together with Chicken Hut, a pharmacy, NetOne, Pick n Pay which is our anchor tenant occupying 3 700 square metres,” Muvingi said.
“From there we have a food court occupied by Simbisa Brands, financial institutions such as FBC, Nedbank and NMB that are coming. There is also Ethiopian Airways, Liquid Telecoms which also walks with ZOL. We also have the Adidas concept and TV sales. We believe that the mix is synergistic in nature as the stores share a lot in terms consumer movement.”
He said the Sawanga project is a “game changer” in terms of ZPI’s strategy from central business district (CBD) based office occupation to a retail model which can absorb shocks.
“With chaos happening in CBDs, we believe this movement is worthwhile. We have recreated Victoria Falls in a big way because this [Sawanga] becomes your concentration centre. You compare this with what is existing in terms of current CBD of the town; one would say it’s not safe, it’s not elite like Sawanga.”
He said the recreation of Victoria Falls was an opportunity for the town to recreate
its master plan, redeveloped around the Sawanga project.
Sawanga Mall is named after chief Sawanga, one of the three sons of Rozvi Changamire. The shopping mall design opens out its anchor arms as embracing features that imitate the welcoming nature of the chief.
