New city centre plaza to be built next year

CONSTRUCTION of the long-awaited Eliakim Namundjebo Plaza, to be situated on the current Ehafo Parking Area in Windhoek’s central business district, is now scheduled to start in February next year.

This was announced by United Africa Group Executive Director Haddis Tilahun in a statement yesterday. Last year, United Africa Group unveiled the architectural design of the N$1-billion plaza complex, and said construction was set for this year – which has now been shifted to next year.Tilahun said the next few weeks would determine the exact date of the groundbreaking ceremony of the development.The ambitious project will take up approximately 65 000 square metres and provide 1 980 parking bays in a three-level basement.It will also include what has been described as an upmarket 150-room hotel, restaurants, banks, shops and offices.”We are very happy with the response so far, particularly the requirement from national tenants for retail space which has so far outstripped our expectation, to the extent that the developers are currently considering doubling the space allocation for retail,” said Tilahun.United Africa Group reportedly bought the property from the Windhoek Municipality in 2004 for N$10 million.United Africa said it could not disclose the names of the companies that had requested space, saying there was still a lot of paperwork to be completed.Tilahun said his company had requested local architects to present a final design for the hotel.The United Africa Group has business tentacles in the services, hospitality and property sectors.Last year, United Africa Group unveiled the architectural design of the N$1-billion plaza complex, and said construction was set for this year – which has now been shifted to next year.Tilahun said the next few weeks would determine the exact date of the groundbreaking ceremony of the development.The ambitious project will take up approximately 65 000 square metres and provide 1 980 parking bays in a three-level basement.It will also include what has been described as an upmarket 150-room hotel, restaurants, banks, shops and offices.”We are very happy with the response so far, particularly the requirement from national tenants for retail space which has so far outstripped our expectation, to the extent that the developers are currently considering doubling the space allocation for retail,” said Tilahun.United Africa Group reportedly bought the property from the Windhoek Municipality in 2004 for N$10 million.United Africa said it could not disclose the names of the companies that had requested space, saying there was still a lot of paperwork to be completed.Tilahun said his company had requested local architects to present a final design for the hotel.The United Africa Group has business tentacles in the services, hospitality and property sectors.