Improving quality of life of under- serviced urban living areas by locating regional retail nodes within key catchment areas

The objective
We pride ourselves on trying to create opportunities and cost savings within the communities in the vicinity adjacent to our centres.

The solution
The majority of our centres have roughly doubled or trebled in retail space since their original trading date, due to market demand in these areas. The further expansion and creation of the multi-amenity hubs around our centres will provide employment for the community through sub-contractors in the building phase and staff in the shops, once the building phase is complete. Previously these initiatives have fostered a sense of ownership within the communities. On completion of the multi-amenity hubs, customers from the community will also enjoy a saving on public transportation costs, from the potential elimination of multiple trips.

The impact
Safari urges its tenants, while negotiating rental agreements, to fill any vacancies from a list of local community members that are available for employment. Currently as many as 85% of current store managers and store attendants are employed by tenants from the local communities around each of our centres.

The average gross rental rate across Safari’s portfolio is R135/m2. The saving in rental is often passed on from the tenants to the customers. This benefit, together with transportation savings expected to be around R600 to R700 million per annum, keeps community customers loyal to our centres.