Grand Towers PLC and SA partner kick off major Abuja retail development

21 December 2010

The Grand Towers Abuja Mall in Abuja will change the landscape of Nigerian retail.

Grand Towers PLC has announced the commencement of construction of the Grand Towers Abuja Mall in Abuja, which will change the landscape of Nigerian retail.

The new mall is situated in fast-growing Abuja, which has been designed with the community and their needs in mind and will contribute to the positive upliftment of the area. Planned as a city for middle and upper income residents, Abuja benefits from good infrastructure and accessibility.

Grand Towers PLC has partnered with Novare in South Africa. A leading specialist emerging markets financial services company, Novare manages the Grand Towers Africa Property Fund. Other partners involved are Broll Nigeria, Group Five, Stanbic IBTC and DTV.

Shoprite is the anchor food tenant in the Grand Towers Abuja Mall, which will also be home to a variety of international, national and local stores. The mall's retail mix includes fashion, speciality, electronics, sports equipment, furniture, home improvement, entertainment, health and beauty, food and banks. The centre will have in excess of 400 parking bays.

Nze Chidi Duru, Chairman, Grand Towers PLC, commented: "We are happy to have pioneered this life changing experience in Abuja, and to have great partners like Novare who have worked day and night to make The Grand Towers Abuja Mall a reality."

The mall has been designed to offer a vibrant, convenient and safe shopping experience on one level, and incorporates green building principles that are a first for Nigeria.

The project is being developed and financed by Grand Towers PLC and Grand Towers Africa Property Fund, which is managed by Novare.

Derrick Roper, CEO, Novare South Africa, said: "We're proud to be associated with this new development. The Grand Towers Africa Property Fund has a focus on retail developments with reputable anchor tenants.

"The fund's first phase of investments is in West Africa, leveraging off the African expansion strategies of key South African and international companies. The fund aims for US dollar returns of 25% a year and we look forward to The Grand Towers Abuja Mall contributing to the achievement of that objective."

realestateweb (http://www.realestateweb.co.za/realestateweb/view/realestateweb/en/page197?oid=70570&sn=Detail&pid=1)

Grand Tower generates $100m for investment in Nigeria
Friday, 10 December 2010

The chairman of Grand Tower Plc, Mr. Nze Chidi Duru, said that the company has generated $100 million for investment in construction of shopping malls in Nigeria.
He said this yesterday in Abuja during a facility visit to the construction site of 8266 square meters land of the Grand Tower Abuja Mall (GTAM) at Dutse district of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which he said would house 46 stores of different sizes.

Duru said, “the fund will be used to invest in shopping malls in Nigeria and the flag off of the project will be in Abuja with 25 million dollars budget. In the short to medium terms, we would like to construct 20 malls in Nigeria in the next five years and we have already secured five sites in Lagos state which their construction will begin in the first quarter of next year.”

He further stated that business activities will start at GTAM in December 2011 because its development would change the landscape of Nigeria retail as destination shopping mall. “We intend to recreate how people live in Abuja and Nigeria as a whole, as this will be the first single private sector development in Nigeria that will directly employ 600 people and over 2500 people indirectly,” he said.

He added that Grand Tower intends to discourage and help Nigerian who usually travel abroad for shopping because whatever they want to get abroad will all be at the mall which will help generate more revenue for the government.


The mall will have according to Duru Shoprite that has already booked its own portion of 3855 sq m which is 46% of the total land space for the mall as the mall’s food anchor tenant while other tenant that have shown interest have not been accepted for economic reason as some of them would want to pay lower rent but promised that the mall will be fully occupied February 2011.

Mr. Derrick Roper, the chief executive officer of Novare investment, a financial partner of Grand Towers in the project said that there are lot of interest in towards the mall which they will begin the signing of their paper soon since the construction has kick off adding that Grand Tower will be a terminal point for other shopping malls around.

Daily Trust (http://dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php/images/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8153:grand-tower-generates-100m-for-investment-in-nigeria-&catid=3:business&Itemid=3)


Hopefully this mall has a really good design.
I wonder what the names and locations are for the 5 malls in Lagos that are about to get built.

GRAND TOWERS LAUNCHES $100M GRAND TOWERS SHOPPING MALL IN ABUJA

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and a property developing firm, Grand Towers Plc last week flagged-off the construction of $100 million Grand Towers shopping mall in Abuja.
At the ground-breaking ceremony of the mall, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, who hailed the initiative said the project would further boost government’s feat toward provision of enduring infrastructure with the capital.
He explained that the reason behind support for such investment by the FCT was to fast track infrastructure development of the fast growing city.
According to him, the Federal Government alone cannot provide all the infrastructures required for the city that takes not less than N60 billion to develop a district.
Represented by Senior Special Assistant on Financial Matters, Mr. Ibrahim, Habu Sule, the minister said the project would be delivered under Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement to boost the process of infrastructure level which is currently in deficit.

He added, “this is going to be a big shopping mall and we are going to open other access road in anticipation of traffic congestion because of the location of this mall. There is a possibility of dualising it, as a lot of people will be drawn to this area.
“By next year we will see how the dualisation and opening of other access roads can fit into the budget proposals because already we trying to present our budget proposal to the National Assembly.”

The Managing Director, Grand Towers Plc, Uchenna Duru explained that the funding is being shared by partners in the project, which include Mauratious, Stanbic IBTC, providing $25 million while GT is adding the rest of the equity.
He expressed optimism that the project will be delivered at a schedule period of twelve months by the end of December 2011.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of GT, Nze Chidi Duru disclosed that the marketing survey conducted by a reputable international agency suggests a huge return of investment pull of $40 million by the end of 2012.
Shoprite representative Van Zyl at the occasion expressed delight at the project, noting that the mall will be counting for sixth of similar outlet it had in the country. He added that single mall owned in Nigeria has budget of $5 million investment.
Zyl expressed, “we are excited about this project because it is a big opportunity to have openings in all parts of the country, by the end of this year it will be the sixth shop in Nigeria.
“We believe we can help create employment 200 people directly and the local economy will have a boost because we require not less than 100 farmers in the local supply. Shoprite sign a lease contract with developers like this and we provide expertise and contribute in terms of employment opportunities for the local people. Every Shoprites takes $5 million.”

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150096739703798

WEBSITE
http://www.grand-towersproperties.com/projects/abuja-mall/

BROCHURE
http://www.grand-towersproperties.com/uploads/files/brochure.pdf

SITE PLAN GOOGLE MAPS
http://www.grand-towersproperties.com/uploads/files/gmaps.pdf

PHOTO PROGRESS
http://www.grand-towersproperties.com/progress-photos/

The name Grand Towers gives the impression that the mall would be some kind of high rise or at least have more than one story.

Oh well as long they make it look nice.

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The project developers of this one, are one of the ''More serious guyz'' in Nigerian projects.

July 2011 Update

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July 2011 Update

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SA High Commissioner visit to site - August 2011

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^^ really encouraging to see that there is actual development going on....

tower? don't see any foundations or is it part of a different stage ?

Grand towers is just the name of the mall and I believe the name of the investment group.

no render ?

no render ?

+1!

There are renders. We just haven't posted them

^^
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NOV PROGRESS:

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^^ learn to crop photos pls

^^ learn to crop photos pls

And u, learn to post photos, pls!

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Well done gareth

May 2012


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June 2012

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May 2012 Looks like shoprite is open though the mall is not yet complete

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Great pics!! thanks GAR3TH.

Shoprite is really growing in Nigeria! I normally love their finishing!

I cannot believe south african own Shoprite is penetrating nigeria like crazy. Somebody like dangote could have invested in retail and make more money. Lack of vision from nigerians, a retail shop is a necessity in society you dont need another country to come in to invest in our country.

I don't see what is impressive about Shoprite. It is just a supermarket chain. There is nothing special about their finishing.

Nigerians simply lack vision like NaijaSwag said. Even in Papua New Guinea where I lived, they have indigenous retailers like Shoprite. All around the world, they have retailers like this.

Nigeria used to have some retailers like Leventis, but they died out.

@Tbite, I think they have a good finishing, as I am now I can't recall ANY nigerian retail shop like this or do you?

Shoprite is really growing in Nigeria! I normally love their finishing!
Good for Shoprite. :cheers:

Those Nigerian xenophobes (like Tbite and NaijaSwag) who are moaning are always free to set up their own chains and put Shoprite to shame. Competition is a good thing.

The presence of shoprite in Nigeria is a very good thing. It will allow the Nigerians to go shopping in hygienic conditions suited. Furthermore, the federal government could easily master the inflation and collect more taxes.

I cannot believe south african own Shoprite is penetrating nigeria like crazy. Somebody like dangote could have invested in retail and make more money. Lack of vision from nigerians, a retail shop is a necessity in society you dont need another country to come in to invest in our country.

Actually if you go to Abuja, there are currently a number of Nigerian owed retail stores, they are not just chain stores. Also don't forget (depending how old you are) Nigeria already had Kingsway, Leventis and Chelerrams. These are precisely what Shoprite is today. All my years growing up in Lagos we have a small store Dominos stores that IF the owner had decided should have grown to a grocery chain and he very well might still do this.

Big Box retail is much more than the structure, you need to have a solid supply chain set up in place to keep your shop up and running on a daily basis. Shoprite is doing a good job of leading the way, there is more than a large enough of a population and market for Nigerians to step in at any time.

And do not forget that construction wise, these projects provide good jobs for Nigerians and then permanent jobs within the store itself. So Nigerians will eventually learn about how to successfully run a big box retail store.

The shoprite in the mall is now open.

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It looks like an average small town South African mall...that's a good thing, but it's quite scary :lol: Globalisation at its finest.