Vacancies drop to below 10%, with activity subsequent to its year-end taking this to 'closer to 5%'
Fourways Mall. Image: Supplied
The 90 000m² Fourways Mall super-regional shopping centre in Johannesburg has narrowed its vacancies to under 10% at the end of March, with 50% owner Accelerate Property Fund saying that “additional letting concluded after year-end is expected to reduce [its] vacancy rate closer to 5%”.
This is a dramatic improvement from the near-20% level (excluding the cushion provided by the previous head lease arrangement) in the previous year.
The mall is visibly busier, and not only on month-end weekends.
From October, it extended its trading hours to 8pm between Mondays and Saturdays, and 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. It also zero-rated parking after 5pm to encourage shoppers to stop there after work.
Improvements
The mall is now averaging more than one million visitors per month, with an achievement of 1.7 million in December 2025, a 20% increase on the prior year.
This is the result of active management by retail specialists Flanagan & Gerard and the Moolman Group, who were appointed to run the property in February 2024.
Flanagan & Gerard says that when it took over the asset, it faced several “harsh realities” including “leaking roofs, under-lit fire escapes, underutilised spaces and outdated systems”.
It has developed some well-known retail centres, including Ballito Junction, Menlyn Maine, Morningside Shopping Centre, Middelburg Mall, Paarl Mall and Mall of the North. Many of these remain owned and managed by the group.
It says that “once burdened with structural decay, high vacancies and outdated infrastructure”, Fourways Mall “now stands as a glowing symbol of what’s possible when vision meets action”.
It has achieved this by focusing on “leasing, tenant mix, customer experience and day-to-day management”. This improvement has come despite the group creating additional gross lettable area (GLA) at Fourways Mall of 4 399m².
The mall is almost unrecognisable from the asset it took over managing more than two years ago. Vacancies are noticeably lower than they had been since the redevelopment of the retail property in 2019.
The View comes into view
The focus now is on the imminent opening of The View on the western side of Fourways Mall, along Cedar Road.
Here, it is creating a “stronger food and lifestyle node”, with an investment of R100 million over the past year.
The preliminary launch date is set at 1 October. Accelerate says this represents the “most significant recent letting activity”.
Leases have been secured with Pantry (by Marble), George’s Grill, tashas, Fournos, Liquor Lane, Nossa Cassa, The Glow Theory, Petworld and The Piercery. Fournos and Nossa Cassa are already trading while others, including Clay Café, Mangwanani Spa and Popsicle Nails have been open for some time.
Accelerate says that, together, these leases cover 4 342m² at an average rental of R201.8/m². Pantry has signed a 10-year lease, while several other tenants have signed five-year leases. The average rental compares favourably with the overall mall, where the gross rental is R199/m².
By space (GLA), the major expiries only start from 2030 and beyond. This year (FY2027), leases comprising only 2.7% of GLA will expire.
The next test
Accelerate CEO Abri Schneider says “the vacancy reduction is the most visible improvement”.
“The next test is cash. The mall must convert better leasing, stronger footfall and improved trading into sustainable collections and net property income.”
Schneider adds that “collections at Fourways Mall still require close management”.
“For the three months to March 2026, rental collected versus billed averaged 92.81%, with receipts averaging approximately R45.6 million per month. This is why management remains focused on tenant quality, affordability and cash collection, not only on filling space.”
It says “capex at Fourways Mall is being directed to projects that support leasing, income, customer experience and tenant sustainability”.
Following the settlement last year of the business interruption claims from the Covid-19 pandemic, where it said it would receive R82.5 million (excluding Vat) for its 50% in the property, Accelerate has been using these proceeds to improve the mall.
In the 2026 financial year (to end March), Flanagan & Gerard and Moolman Group (via Luvon) used R43.5 million of these proceeds towards Fourways Mall capex.
In 2026, Fourways Mall generated R255.7 million in revenue, with R121.7 million of net property income and a total of R202.6 million in profits from operations. Its 50% of the asset is currently valued at R4.2 billion (up from R4 billion in the prior year).
Business rescue …
In June 2025, the owner of the other 50% of the mall, Azrapart, an entity controlled by Michael Georgiou, was placed in business rescue.
Accelerate says it and the business rescue practitioner “continue to make joint decisions for the joint operation” of the mall. Piers Marsden and Lance Schapiro were appointed as the business rescue practitioners of Azrapart.
This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
