It’s about exciting concepts, desirable brands and leading retailers. It’s knowing what is going to attract the right kind of consumer attention. It’s understanding that centres profit when tenants profit. It’s about developing and redeveloping, negotiating relevant contracts and maintaining the right environment. You’ve either got it or you haven’t; and Liberty Properties shopping centres have it in trolley loads!

Take Sandton City - the flagship in this prestigious property portfolio. Its position as a world class shopping and rendezvous destination for millions of local and international visitors is unrivalled. It’s the über centre that others aspire to emulate – the original, the benchmark, the icon.

Together with the adjoining Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton City is the biggest shopping centre in Africa. Last year visitors to the mega-mall equalled close to South Africa’s total population (47 million)! This sophisticated hub showcases the very best that global retail has to offer with 400 leading retailers contributing to a shopping experience that sizzles. Whether it’s designer brands or café society you’re after, you can find everything from one-of-a-kind South African artworks, the latest shoes from Milan to a 6m bronze tourist attraction as well. This is international shopping with South African style – urban, glamorous,
Afro-Cosmpolitan.

And now with a multi-billion Rand rejuvenation project underway, it’s leading the future of shopping. The first phase of the Sandton City project will introduce a whole new dimension to South Africa’s favourite place to shop. The 30,000m² extension is transforming the complex into 131,000m² area of gross lettable space, with the office component taking the complex to a massive 205,000m². The mall refurbishment component will include the introduction of energy efficient lighting, new floor and wall tiling, recladding of the demising columns, areas of new ceiling and the upgrade of certain lifts within the existing shopping
mall. We’re talking bigger, brighter, better.

This premier destination in Joburg’s eastern suburbs has been a landmark in the area for thirty years. Entrenched in the community, the fashionable Eastgate mall is an integral part of the Bedfordview area - frequented by over 80,000 shoppers on Saturdays and over 2 million loyal shoppers a month. The recent completion of a R610 million refurbishment will ensure the centre remains the lifestyle experience of choice for visitors on this side of town. The addition of an exciting open-air rooftop piazza is creating a whole new buzz, accentuating Liberty’s retail philosophy of ‘meet, eat, play’. With a dramatic glass façade that brings the outside in and a new food court, Eastgate is attracting a whole lot of interested customers.

Liberty Promenade has established itself as the heart of a vibrant and fast-growing community. The current R340 million extension and refurbishment project is set to reconfirm the centre’s position as the shopping destination of choice in the Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha areas. The 24,000m2 expansion includes a new family entertainment wing and additional public facilities. Liberty is proud to be bringing growth, development and quality to the local community.

When plans to build a multi-million rand shopping centre in the city were first proposed, nobody could have guessed five short years later, that Liberty Midlands Mall would have become the commanding presence in Pietermaritzburg that is today. The centre is the undisputed authority in entertainment and retail activity in the city with a high caliber tenant mix drawing visitors from the broader KZN interior intent on a quality shopping experience. It is also recognised for its social responsibility efforts in the area and a real concern with its customers’ wellbeing. Liberty Midlands Mall has received accolades for its Disabled Awareness Campaign.

The construction of the adjacent StayEasy hotel on the property is creating a mixed use development that will increase the success and vitality for all parties involved. The hotel is expected to open in April 2010.

Greenacres Shopping Centre’s slogan is Live the Good Life and it couldn’t be more apt. Liberty’s real estate asset in Port Elizabeth is all about providing its customers with a feel-good experience and visitors to this retail hub couldn’t agree more. It is a magnet for over a million shoppers each month. Greenacres’ unique appeal is enhanced by shops that include reputable, national retailers sideby- side with family businesses that have served the community for generations. The shopping giant recently won a Diamond Arrow Award for the best shopping centre in the Eastern Cape, proof that a trendy atmosphere, good tenant mix and a strong Greenacres customer service ethic is a big attraction.

This popular family destination has faithfully satisfied the shopping needs of the South-East quadrant of Johannesburg for some 22 years. Alberton City is a real community centre, providing a place to meet, eat, browse and experience a superior shopping environment. The R200 million expansion investment completed last year has created an aspirational atmosphere in this major growth area of the country. A tenant mix including big national retailers together with popular chain stores provides a rewarding
shopping experience.

Liberty’s secret to success in the retail industry lies in the mix – a lucrative environment for quality tenants and a pleasing retreat for receptive customers. It’s why demand for space across the spectrum of it prestigious shopping centres remains constantly high.

‘Whoever said money can’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to shop’