Exponential consortium eyes retail space
Keikantse Lesemela | Wednesday September 24, 2014 16:08
In an interview with Mmegi Business, Exponential Chairman, Dumi Lopang, said they plan to build an eight-storey building next to Exponential, which will house retail businesses.
“The CBD is growing rapidly and we anticipate an oversupply of office space in the area so we want to develop a retail property on our plot,” he said.
The Exponential building, which is constructed in an 8,000 square meters area currently houses 10 tenants, including Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), Anglo Coal Botswana, Non Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), State Bank of India and Minerals Development Company Botswana. The office building, which was built by a consortium of 61 citizens, was completed in July 2012 at a cost of P78 million without any loan from banks or financial institutions.
Lopang said they plan to develop the second phase of the project, which is currently used as the parking space.
“Even though the retail sector is posing a lot of competition we are sure we will have more gains in the sector,” he said.
Although he would not reveal the amount they are going to invest in the development, Lopang said they have sufficient funds to start another project.
“I cannot disclose the amount we are going to invest because the project is still in the pipeline. We plan to use the parking basement and erect another eight storey for retail space,” he said.
The consortium will venture into the retail sector. This development comes at a time when property market experts had warned that both retail and office market is showing signs of distress due to oversupply. Secondary office space rentals have softened from an average of about P95 per square metre to P75 per square metre.
Letlole La Rona Real Estate manager, Sethebe Manake, recently said the retail market has reached saturation level while the industrial market is upside on the horizon. There is an increase in rental rates, demand for large industrial sites and distribution centers.
The 2014 edition of the authoritative AT Kearney Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) indicates that Botswana has dropped to the 26th position in rankings as the market reaches saturation point due to the mushrooming of many malls in a short space of time.