Auas Valley construction pains hint at smarter complex

Dedicated patrons of the Auas Valley Shopping Mall in Windhoek have to live with concrete truck, overhead cranes, dumptrucks, limited parking, noise and the closure of one of Windhoek’s favourite coffee shops, but Agra Ltd, the mall’s owner said this week, it is only a minor infraction compared to the enhanced shopping experience the mall promises, once the renovations and extensions have been completed. The first phase of the upgrade and extension work at the Auas Valley centre, Agra’s largest property, is now in full swing. Work inside the Auas Valley Shopping Mall has commenced where major changes are made to upgrade and to enlarge the retail area. Pick ‘n Pay will soon occupy their much larger warehouse and the structure for the new parking deck nears completion at the end of March 2014 to make 380 more parking bays available.  Despite the hustle and bustle at the mall, a large number of shoppers still prefer to do their shopping at Auas Valley where a variety of products and services are still available in a spacious, convenient shopping area. Agra said a number of changes and arrangements had to be put in place to ensure the safety of shoppers and business owners during construction while continuing to provide their business services.

Current tenants S&A Cellular, Looks Hair Design, Happy Shop and Windhoek Sports Medicine Centre consulting rooms, who will continue their business in the upgraded mall, have been relocated to other locations in the mall and are continuing their services to their clients while their shops or offices are upgraded. The Namibian Stud Breeders Association now shares offices with Agra’s ProVision with their entrance in Bessemer street on the northern side of the building.  Pick ‘n Pay, Bank Windhoek, Nictus, Auas Valley Pharmacy, Auas Vet Med, Safari Den and Agra remain in their existing stores with minimum changes at this stage, but with major improvements to their shops to be done in the next construction phase. Agra expressed appreciation for clients’ continued support, understanding and patience and is very excited about the end product, which will be completed by the end of August 2014. The new Auas Valley Shopping Mall promises to be a much bigger, very modern and convenient mall with much more to offer. Newcomers to the mall include Steers, Debonairs Pizza, Fish Aways, Fresh ‘n Wild restaurant, the Sushi bar, Pep Home, Mareez Jeweller, Silver Berry, Pet Boutique, Bugatti restaurant, an optometrist, ATM’s of the major banks and a car wash. With the closing of the parking areas on the eastern side of the mall and in front of Agra, Agra customers have been redirected to use Bessemer Street at the back of the building and additional parking space inside Agra’s yard has been prepared. The mall parking on the southern side of the building is still accessible from Messum Street and Bessemer Street, although the flow of traffic has been changed to one-way out of and into Bessemer Street.
By middle of March, 190 more parking bays will become available, and by the end of March, clients will have another 190 parking bays, while construction will commence on the southern parking area.  Agra said the first phase of the mall is fully let and planning for the second phase is also well underway.