Platz Am Meer officially opened

The shopping mall at the Swakopmund Waterfront development “Platz am Meer” was officially opened by Mayor Paulina Nashilundo on Friday. Many invited guests, amongst them contractors and various other stakeholders, witnessed the auspicious event.

“The waterfront is the first of its kind in Namibia and a landmark for the country,” said Nashilundo during her brief address. She added that the municipality of Swakopmund is committed to create an enabling environment for businesses to ensure that the buying power increases. “We hope to encourage other companies to follow suit and invest in Swakopmund,” she said.
In his speech Francois Marais, Chief Executive Officer of Safari Investments, thanked all parties involved in making the development a success. The waterfront opened its doors to the public in September after a construction period of two years. While many shops are since open for business, some are still under construction.
“All will come together at the end of November,” Marais said.
In a small booklet released during the event the history of the Waterfront is outlined. According to this document the first time Town Council investigated the possibility of a beach development was in 1994. It was determined that it is indeed feasible to construct a small craft harbour north of the Mole basin. In the following years a couple of developers took on the project, but none could secure sufficient finances to put it into reality.
Safari Investments took over the project in 2009 and submitted a new design to Council in the same year.
A year later, in October 2010, Safari signed a development agreement with the municipality paving the way for the development.
Earthworks commenced in 2012 while the construction of the buildings started in 2014 after the building plan approval was granted.
The opening of the shopping mall marks the finalization of the first phase of the development. The apartments on the northern side of the development are still ongoing and are anticipated to be completed in 2017.