Mauritius United Properties

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MAHESH BUGNATH talks to the developers of a Rs20bn landmark project in Mauritius

Developers plan a new metropolis over the next 10 years

The Rs20 billion Ebene City project by Four Equal Mauritius will be a 600,000 m ² development consisting of a shopping centre, mixed- use residential and retail, commercial offices, consulting rooms, educational facilities, hotels, service stations and medical centre covering 39 city blocks of different sizes.

The total number of residential apartments planned are in excess of 2,000.

The development of the site, which is to be set on 34 hectares, is planned over the next ten years. The first phase, unveiled last week, will be the construction of a shopping mall, Named the Mall of Mauritius, it will consist of some 50,000 m ² of commercial spaces; completion is expected in March 2012. The mall will be host to some 150 shops and about 70% of those will be local tenants while the remainder will be international names, say the developers.

It is expected that this will create about 1,200 jobs will be created.

The mall will be the focal point of the project in attracting the necessary critical mass of consumers according to Jaco Odendaal, Chairman of Four Equal Mauritius. The construction of the mall has been contracted to a local construction firm for some Rs3.5 billion.

The design of the project has been entrusted to DSK Architects, a South African firm in partnership with Pravin Desai Architects, a local company. The promoters are currently holding talks with the international hotel chain Marriot for the operation of a 150- bed hotel.

The mall will include shopping space, food court with some 12 outlets, basement parking with 2,500 parking spaces, and a cinema complex.

One of the focal points of the development will be Ebene Square, a public space that will be made available for festivals and other public events.

The promoters attach particular importance to the office space that will be developed. These will consist mainly of eco- offices that will make use of the environment surrounding the development. The buildings will be low- rise with a maximum height of three storeys and will overlook the Terre Rouge River which flows behind the Ebene City site.

A total of 16,000 m ² of office space is planned.

The complex will have its own access roads from the motorway and a proposed link road.

During the planning phase, consideration has been given to future developments. For instance, the project will make use of the proposed Terre Rouge- Verdun link road and the Highlands City that the government plans to build.

Tourism is also included as a potential source of revenue.

In line with government policy, the promoters have based themselves on potential arrivals of only 1.4 million tourists by 2015 as compared to the two million projected by government.

Currently all of the 12 commercial spaces available have been let and some 60% of the 150 retail outlets have been rented, say the developers.