Kisumu, Kenya, Jan 17 – Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) is negotiating with China Square to be the anchor tenant at their mall in Mamboleo, Kisumu.
The Authority Managing Director, Wycliffe Ochiaga, says they are optimistic about attracting huge human traffic if the negotiations bear fruit.
China Square hit headlines in February last year when Nairobi businesspeople demanded its closure, citing unfair competition.
Ochiaga now says they are keen to bring investors to the lakeside city to spur growth in the region and offer employment opportunities to the locals.
“As we speak today, there are negotiations ongoing with China Square and this will basically act as our anchor tenant,” he said.
Since the completion of the five-story mall in 2006, the space for the anchor tenant has not been occupied following unsuccessful attempts to sign a contract with major retail chains.
Ochiaga says the supermarket, which is currently running its store at Unicity Mall in Nairobi, will take up to 50,000 square feet.
“I am convinced that if the contract is signed then a lot of traffic will be witnessed at the mall and more offices will be filled,” he said.
Addressing the press in Kisumu on Wednesday at the mall situated along Kisumu Kakamega Road, Ochiaga says the mall, owing to its strategic location, has huge potential for business.
He says currently, the mall, which is 360,000 square feet, is only at 47 percent occupancy.
The MD says the Authority has over the years welcomed government institutions into the mall, thus rekindling its prospects.
The spaces have been taken by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which relocated from its former offices in Swan Centre in 2019, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), the Roads Board, and the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), among others, all occupying 100, 060 square feet.
The mall boasts an amphitheater, a 350-car parking lot, a modern food court, four escalators, a children’s playground, and a recreational park, amongst other amenities.
