The new shopping centre in Musina, the Great North Plaza, is scheduled to open on October 15 this year and phase 1 of the development is fully let.

The anchor tenant in the 10 000m² centre is Shoprite. This superstore on its own takes up more than 4 000m² of the available space. The other tenants include well-known names in the furniture and appliance industry such as OK Furniture, Clicks, and Express Stores. A large number of clothing stores will also find a new home at the centre. These include Markhams, Beaver Canoe, Foschini’s, Dodo, Franco Ceccato, Pep Stores, Total Sports, Fashion World and Exact Stores. There are also a number of food stores that will open their doors for business. The better- known names are those of Wimpy, Nando’s, Chicken Licken and Pie City. The remaining tenants include a pharmacy, jewellery store (Sterns), several cell phone outlets and the well-known Nappy and Baby King.

According to the developer, Mr Solly Noor, the new centre boasts with parking bays for 400 vehicles and even has a food court where customers can relax while enjoying a meal. A lot of effort went into the aesthetics and especially to blend in with the natural characteristics of the area. The indigenous trees, such as the beautiful baobabs, were retained and a sandstone effect compliments the semiarid nature of Musina. The developers also upgraded the N1 where it passes the centre at a cost of over R5 million.

“This trading centre will provide a minimum of 1 500 new jobs,” says Mr Noor. He is very enthusiastic about the future of this latest development and believes it will provide a huge impetus for business in the border town.

In total, the development will comprise roughly 27 000 m² of lettable space. It will be finished in three phases. Construction work on the second phase, which is situated on the property next to the N1 just opposite the phase 1 centre, has already started. The anchor tenants in phase 2 include Cashbuild and Woolworths. If all goes according to plan, this phase will be finished in June 2010. According to Mr Noor, the last phase of the development should be finished in August 2010.

Like most of the projects of Solly Noor Properties, this centre was designed by Paul Perold of Osglo Architects. The electrical engineer is André Slabbert and Kobus Barkhuizen is the consulting engineer. The contractor is Usna Builders.