Pioneering transformation in South Africa’s real estate arena

Department of Home Affairs is Open To Service The Needs of Tshwane at Menlyn Park Shopping Centre

The GCEO of Pareto Limited, Malose Kekana and Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has officially opened a new Home Affairs office at the Menlyn Park Shopping Centre in Pretoria.

The new office will offer application and collections services for IDs and passports. The Department says clients will have the convenience of applying for the services when they visit the shopping centre.

Motsoaledi in his speech said “Our ambition at all times is to find innovative solutions. We are here today because we wanted to pilot and make sure that the system works very well. Once we are convinced that it works very well, we will move to Cresta Mall in Johannesburg. We’ll be making preparations to move into the Pavilion Mall in eThekwini and Tyger Valley Mall in Cape Town. All those are malls in which we will be doing what we are doing today.”

Kekana emphasised the importance of Private Public Partnership “there is power in such partnerships as they bring greater efficiencies to support Batho Pele principles. He continued to say that Pareto remains committed to supporting such initiatives.

Menlyn shoppers will now have access to various Home Affairs services such as applying for your Smart Card ID, Passports, Birth Certifications and to make online bookings on the Branch Appointment Booking System at available offices and eHome Affairs.

Mowana Properties welcomes it’s new HOD: Legal & Governance.

We are excited to announce the appointment of Ms. Andisiwe Matubatuba as HOD: Legal & Governance of Mowana Properties. Andisiwe joins Mowana having served as Legal Advisor for Pareto Limited and is therefore familiar with the Pareto Group.

As the HOD: Legal and Governance, Andisiwe will play a key role in supporting the development, implementation, and monitoring of the Company’s strategy.

With support from the Legal Manager, Andisiwe will further develop the Legal function in order to render effective support services to the Company and its client/s, on a national scale.

Andisiwe is an admitted attorney who holds a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of the Western Cape and a BCOMM Investment Management and Banking qualification. She is passionate about governance and process development.

We welcome Andisiwe to the Mowana family and look forward to going from strength to strength.

Mowana Properties welcomes Dr Mamello Masia as its new HR Executive.

Mamello is an HR Executive with a great passion for growing talent. She is passionate about driving education-related projects, career development, and increasing capacity and employability of staff. Mamello’s interests in HR are varied across the whole HR value Chain, so in essence, she loves people issues. Mamello is enthusiastic about HR Information systems and HR analytics.

She has a deep hands-on experience from operational HR to strategic HR matters, with large multinational corporates to local companies. She has been exposed to various cultures in her career, associated with the organisations she worked for, such as the Japanese, German, American, and other parts of Africa.

What stood out for her in the Japanese culture at Toyota was the Toyota Business Practices, also known as the Toyota way. This culture intrinsically changed her outlook on managing projects, dealing with daily work challenges, and approaching problems in the workplace.

She has various qualifications, from an undergraduate degree in Public Administration and Sociology to an MCom in Human Resource Management. In December 2021, she was conferred a PhD in Human Resources focusing on HR Analytics and HR Information Systems.

A BIGGER AND MORE EXCITING MALVERN PARK

A new, vibrant, well-integrated mixed-use precinct, including retail and medical suites to complement the existing components of Malvern Park, is underway. This precinct will concentrate on the Centre’s revitalisation, which includes the Extension of the Checkers Box, the Construction of a second anchor box, parking and the Extension of the food court area to the exterior.

The precinct will comprise three main components which form part of a single precinct, namely Malvern Park Centre, Queensburgh strip mall and Malvern Heights 140 Apartments, recently refurbished.

Deep Roots Provide Great Growth for Mowana Properties

Since 2015, Sandton-based Mowana Properties has been driving a culture of excellence as it grows its reputation with existing clients. This reputation is now encouraging enquiries from elsewhere in the market as potential clients hunt for experienced black-owned, black-managed, and black-operated partners with the ability to scale. 

Currently, Mowana Properties is an active member of the internationally acclaimed Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) – among other memberships – and looks to upskill employees through this global alliance of experts. 

These snippets give a glimpse of the profile written about Mowana Properties by Enterprise Africa Magazine.

Read more below.

Menlyn Park Urban Farm

Menlyn shopping Centre (a Mowana Properties managed centre), has taken strides in promoting sustainability across its operations and the centre. The rooftop farming is the latest instalment on the Menlyn’s drive for sustainability.

 The rooftops of Menlyn Park Shopping Centre were once well known for hosting arena activities, festivals and drive-in movies. But today, they are home to something different – and greener.

Andile Matukane, founder of Farmers Choice, has converted what was once a rooftop parking lot into a thriving farm. It makes her the first known person to do rooftop farming on a mall in Tshwane, and Andile hopes to expand her farm to be the biggest in South Africa, capable of serving many nearby people and businesses.

Farming a few levels up wasn’t always Andile’s plan. She runs two functional land farms in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, selling pigs and seedlings. However, land ownership in South Africa is an ongoing challenge, and so, when looking to grow her business, she decided to get creative and look upwards.

It was a timely choice. With climate change, urbanisation, food insecurity and transport costs all growing, rooftop farming can be done anywhere, anytime, with fewer resources, and closer to people. Her set-up with the help of Mowana Properties management at Menlyn Park, uses a hydroponic system, making it capable of growing thousands of leafy green crops all year round (even producing more food compared to soil farming). In a compact space, she can produce lettuces, basil, rocket, edible flowers, strawberries, and spinach – and deliver them quickly.

Andile’s rooftop farm is also an ideal fit for Menlyn Park’s sustainability drive. The shopping mall has made a commitment to reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink waste.

These green efforts started when Pareto undertook the refurbishment and expansion of Menlyn Park in 2014. We helped ensure the new construction was fully aligned with environmentally friendly design and construction principles. The base building, among other things, incorporated paints, adhesives and sealants with low or no volatile organic compounds, and composite wood with low formaldehyde emission levels. For these efforts, the mall was awarded a four-star Green Star Retail Design rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa – a historic and significant achievement for the South African retail sector.

Today, some of the mall’s other green features include sophisticated metering, CO² monitors, roof skylights, large-scale composters, and facilities for alternative transport.

The new rooftop farm complements these, and both Mowana Properties, Pareto Limited, and Menlyn Park are excited to support this eco-friendly space. The farm is low in maintenance, gives high and consistent production results per square meter, has a low input usage of water and electricity, and has low space requirements.

Urban rooftop farming in South Africa started taking off as a trend in 2017, with the launch of the Urban Agriculture Initiative (UAI). Developed by key stakeholders in the public and private sector, the UAI seeks to address issues of food security and assist job creation.

Vangate Mall played host to the #BarakatMovie premiere at Atlantic Film Studios on Tuesday 6 April. A special thanks to our Food and beverage sponsors Debonairs, Ocean Basket, Nando’s, Spur, Xpresso and Jive that made sure that everyone had something to eat and to drink. The movie entails an ageing matriarch who aims to bring together her fractured, dysfunctional family over Eid-al-Fitr to break the news about her new romance.

In cinemas nationwide 13 and 14 May 2021.

OVERALL STRATEGY

Partner with a local event as an initiative that will resonate with the Vangate Mall community, creating brand awareness and affinity. Align the partnership with a religious holiday period that is a key focus for the mall and its customers.

For this, the Vangate Mall was awarded the SACSC Bronze award for PR.

25 November 2021 marks the grand opening of the newly revamped Jakaranda Centre located in Rietfontein, Pretoria. The aim of the redevelopment project is to re-establish the iconic Jakaranda Centre as the “Trusted Retail Centre of Choice” for the region’s local community, as well as boost socio-economic growth by the expansion of the shopping centre’s Gross Leasable Area (GLA) and other opportunities for business development.

The majestic Jakaranda Centre (“the Centre) has a rich heritage within the Moot community, as well as the broader Rietfontein district and surrounding areas. Having first opened its doors in the 1970s, the shopping centre has been servicing the community for over 40 years, and the building itself is seen as a historic landmark of the area. In addition to serving as a place of entertainment and convenient shopping for the residents of Rietfontein and its surrounds, the businesses operating in the Centre provide invaluable employment opportunities and economic growth potential for the local community.

The Centre’s impressive legacy includes introducing the first-ever Pick n Pay store to the area and boasts decades of being the go-to shopping destination for the region. The revamp is an opportunity for the mall to become even more accessible, convenient and appealing to both its long term, loyal patrons; as well as to new residents to the area and the younger consumer demographic.

The 3-year long redevelopment project took into account various factors, such as aesthetic appeal, customer experience, community lifestyle needs, ease of access (such as improved pedestrian access, revamped parking areas and a taxi drop-off point), sustainability (including the use of natural light, controlled natural airflow and solar electricity) and other socio-economic and environmental concerns.

Shoppers can look forward to a range of existing and brand-new tenants at the new modernised retail and lifestyle hub. Shops and amenities include: the Gym Company, Mr Price and Mr Price Home, The Bed Shop, Panarottis Pizza, Dischem Pharmacy, PEP Home, King Pie, Spur Steak Ranch, Ackermans, several additional speciality stores and a food court. The main anchor tenant remains Pick n Pay, with the retailer occupying a newly remodelled, larger store. Its offering will expand to include Pick n Pay Liquor and Pick n Pay Clothing stores.

Centre Management of Jakaranda Centre expressed their excitement about the launch of the mall, stating that: “This project can be seen as the culmination of years of relentless determination to deliver the Rietfontein community and surrounds more choices, more experiences and more memories for decades to come at Jakaranda Centre”.

As a community-based brand, centre management also calls for the local community to join in the festivities at the grand opening on 25 November. The celebrations include a range of giveaways on the day, as well as an online #HeartOfTheMoot competition where patrons can share their photos, experiences and memories of Jakaranda Centre to stand a chance to win prizes to the value of R2 500.

The Tlhabane Square management is pleased to announce the official launch and opening the Tlhabane Square, as of 26 August 2021.

Amongst others, Tlhabane Square comprise a 30 000sqm shopping centre, an office component and a gym. Tlhabane Square was established with the interests of people in the forefront and will make vital services easily accessible for the community of Tlhabane.

Tlhabane Square is definitely #ForThePeople and #ByThePeople.

Management is encouraged by the positive feedback from some of Tlhabane residents, who have been eagerly waiting for the official launch. The feedback also reflects the hope that the development has brought to the community and has made Tlhabane a force to be reckoned with. Tlhabane Square envisions bringing hope in the form of employment opportunities to the community. The number of jobs created during the construction process for the local community members was around 600 as the trades move during the build time. Once the shopping centre and various tenants are fully operational, Tlhabane Square anticipates the creation of 70 permanent jobs.