New Shopping Centre for Claremont

Claremont gets new multi-million Rand shopping centre, Palmyra Junction.

A new R50 million neighbourhood shopping centre, anchored by the largest convenience Woolworths Food store in the Western Cape, is to be built on a prime site in Claremont.

Situated on the bustling Palmyra Road, Palmyra Junction will boast a 1200 square metre Woolworths Food store and 18 other handpicked retail tenants. The centre will have 24 hour security with CCTV surveillance and will enjoy plentiful parking with no less than 140 dedicated parking bays being provided on site.

Rabie development manager Colin Anderson said it had taken eight years to assemble the site and get the necessary development rights in place.

“The Claremont area is under shopped in terms of convenience shopping as there simply have not been suitable, large enough sites available for development. The existing shopping facilities in the area have thus been limited to strip shops or small redevelopments which all have parking limitations, so Palmyra Junction will really have a competitive advantage in that it will be able to provide both convenience and destination shopping.”

Anderson said they were negotiating with many other key tenants but would only start signing leases when they were certain they had the correct tenant mix.

The centre is located on one of the southern suburbs main thoroughfares and is in close proximity to about 20 leading schools.

“Weekday trading hours will be from 8am to 8pm to benefit from the passing trade and provide a convenient shopping for parents dropping their children off in the morning or picking them after school. “

Anderson said the Woolworths Food store was being designed to be the “greenest” of all Woolworths Food stores countrywide, with green building measures being taken that include recycling energy for the under floor heating, a grey water system and natural ventilation.

The centre will be set around an internal, open air piazza, enabling restaurants and coffee shops to spill out and for patrons to enjoy the landscaped surroundings and mountain views.

The architecture of the centre, which is being built on an old railway siding, embraces a combination of steel, glass and face brick in a contemporary idiom and will incorporate some historical elements recovered from the site, including recycled railway sleepers and tracks.

Ten studio apartments will be built above the shops providing potential work from home opportunities.

The extensive Civils contract by Strata Civils has started, with the main contractor Granbuild due to commence in December, with completion set for October 2010.

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