A “smart village” connected by a high-tech fibre optic infrastructure, state-of-the-art security features and modern architecture, complemented by a private school, a hospital, retail outlets and office parks is the future for Nelson Mandela Bay’s 320 hectare Baywest City development – of which the R1.7-billion Baywest Mall is the catalyst – mapped out by Baywest MD Gavin Blows.
Blows, speaking at a meeting of Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber members recently, said Baywest City would be a “city within a city” which would bring an influx of visitors to the city.
“It will be a smart village with fibre optics throughout, allowing for high speed internet access. The security and internet access will run off this fibre optic backbone,” said Blows. “The new model of city development needs to have the latest technology.”
Blows said he was also considering building an International Convention Centre (ICC) to service the region and the needs of government, as outlined in a Grant Thorton study into the viability of such a centre.
“We have brought in architecture which is exciting, with modern designs for the eight precincts which will form around the mall. We have briefed local architects to come up with designs for this.”
Blows said Baywest Mall would offer more than 250 retail outlets and a food court, as well as a Fun Factory which would house the province’s only ice rink, the latest gaming technology from the US, high-tech 3D cinemas, ten pin bowling and more restaurants. All this would help draw visitors to the city, he said.
The 87,500m² mall was on track to open its doors on 19 March 2015, he said.
“We believe we will be encouraging more people to visit Nelson Mandela Bay. They will come to Baywest Mall where they will be able to spend a day enjoying the retail and the entertainment facilities,” he said.
The Baywest developers, Abacus Asset Management and Billion Group, were also lobbying to get the region’s iconic tourism drawcard, the narrow gauge Apple Express heritage train, up and running after it was mothballed several years ago.
A station for the Apple Express has been included in the plans for Baywest, stopping near to the mall.
“We are trying to incorporate the Apple Express into the development, with a tram service which will run from the station down a boulevard to the mall. This is just the start of the exciting plans we have for Baywest City,” he said. Baywest is working with a non-profit organisation Apple Express Rail to get the icon tourist attraction quite literally back on track.
Addressing naysayers of the development, Blows said: “We have to look at other success stories. Super regional malls [of which Baywest will be one] are the best performing asset class over a 10-year cycle. Gateway in Durban is a success, and Sandton was merely bush many years ago. Other developments in the city will grow because of the size of the Baywest development,” he said.
The first phase of development of Baywest City, of which Baywest Mall was the catalyst, would span about 400,000m² of gross lettable area (GLA), said Blows, and would also include 100,000m² of office and commercial space and about 2,000 housing opportunities. A private school and hospital were also planned, he added.
Speaking of the importance of the development, Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Kevin Hustler said the building of the Baywest Mall alone had boosted the region’s business fraternity immensely.
“The Baywest development speaks to our overarching aim of making Nelson Mandela Bay a competitive and sustainable city,” said Hustler. “The confidence demonstrated in the potential of Nelson Mandela Bay to support such investment is to be applauded, and bodes well for future investment into our city.”
Alan Straton
Latest posts by Alan Straton (see all)
- South African Conquers Rats on the World Stage - 30 October 2026
- Old JPG on a Memory Stick? Vectorization Studio in Observatory Redraws Faded and Low-Resolution Logos by Hand - 30 October 2026
- ReAutomated Adds Robot Palletising and Case Packing Cells to Existing South African Packing Lines Without Stripping Out the Conveyors - 30 October 2026
- From a 5 KM Sprint to an Ultra: Punisher Sets Out Its Magaliesberg Obstacle Race Formats for First Timers, Teams and Fitness Clubs - 30 October 2026
- Rotary or Dual Action? Germiston’s Polisher Lists Its Machines, Buffs and Compounds for Car Paint and Metal Finishing - 30 October 2026
Looks as though we are getting back to an almost self-sufficient ‘village’ concept – away from a centralised city urban sprawl…..makes a lot of sense – perhaps we can do this in each suburb?