Pretoria - It has been 12 years since concrete stopped pouring for the construction of The Villa Retail Park in Moreleta Park, and since then the remaining structure has become a giant tombstone.
Homeowners and residents in the Wingate Park area have been complaining about the structure, saying it has become an eyesore where 78 homes were bought and demolished to make room for the development.
The “Ghost Mall” at the corner of Delmas and De Villebois roads was a Sharemax Property syndication project, which thousands of investors, mostly elderly pensioners, invested R1.5 billion in to build what was to become one of the largest centres in the country.
Construction started in 2009 and investors were told that by 2011 they would see the unveiling of the megastructure, boasting 90 000m² of retail space, 16 000m² of office space and about 5 000m² of lifestyle space.
But in 2010 Sharemax collapsed, when about 75% of the structure was complete. Tshwane MMC for utility services and regional operations Daryl Johnston, who is also the ward councillor for the areas and was involved in raising the frustrations of the community about the structure, told the Pretoria News that this was a complex matter now stuck in litigations.
He said GD Irons Construction, which had about R150 million invested in the construction, obtained a court order for owners and developers such as the Nova Property Group to pay about R500m in damages.
Johnston said there was nothing the City of Tshwane could do about the structure because of the legal processes, and to get to a point where the City could expropriate a building it would have to be in significant arrears owed to the City in rates and taxes.
“However, this grey monstrosity is an eyesore and unfortunately the developer has stopped taking my calls and responding to my emails about this matter.
“The last time I spoke to them was in July 2019, and Nova Property Group as the rescue vehicle told me they had found an investor and that the building would be completed in three years’ time.
“But as you can see we are three years down the line and nothing was done,” said Johnston.
Business adviser and member of the Institute of Business Advisers of SA Derrick Ndzavi took to social media to enlighten the public, saying that in the 2000s, an estimated 40 000 people invested about R5bn in a property syndication company to build a R3.5bn shopping centre to rival Menlyn Mall.
He said the alarm was raised by market-watchers in 2003 and investors were warned that a 12.5% annual return on their investment that comprised monthly interest cheques would eventually stop arriving when the scheme went bust, and indeed it did.
Sharemax Investments collapsed in 2010 after a registrar of banks investigation found their funding model had contravened the Banks Act.
Pretoria News