THE Southcoast Mall in Izotsha is set to go under the hammer on November 23.
But shoppers can rest assured that the shopping centre is not in any financial trouble.
Shared owners of the mall, Hyprop Investments and Redefine Properties, have decided to sell the mall and to focus on core assets.
Nicole Greenstone, Johannesburg regional executive at Hyprop Investments, said the disposal of Southcoast Mall will merely involve a change of ownership.
“The property is difficult to manage from Johannesburg,” she said.
Hyprop Investments has only one asset on the South Coast, of which it only owns 50%, Greenstone added.
“We are looking to exit non-key assets.
“The Southcoast Mall sits outside of the strategic focus of Hyprop.”
The Southcoast Mall is a small asset compared to Hyprop’s other assets, she added.
Redefine Properties agreed to the sale and suggested it be sold by auction, having worked previously with Auction Alliance.
“Based in Johannesburg, we are not familiar with investors in the South Coast region.
“However, Auction Alliance had a vast data base of potential investors,” Greenstone said.
But this is not to say that the mall will in fact be auctioned.
“We are actually hoping to sell before the date.”
Greenstone said the Southcoast Mall has done very well and is an exceptionally good investment.
The mall was opened for business in 2005 and cost R205 million to develop.
The sale is expected to set a new record in KwaZulu-Natal for Auction Alliance.
• witness@feveronline.co.za
