Rising incomes among the growing middle class are feeding optimism in retail property in Ghana, which currently has one of the continents fastest-expanding economies.

Ghanas GDP is expected to grow by 7.3% this year in real terms, thanks in part to the continuing influx of capital associated with the burgeoning oil and gas sector. Combined with increased urbanisation, this means that the demand for dedicated retail space particularly property that caters to modern retail outlets, which currently accounts for some 5-10% of the overall market is growing rapidly.

The middle-class has really seen growth in their expendable income, and people in Ghana are spending a lot more than before, Edmund K Asamoah, the manager of A&C Square shopping centre in Accra, told OBG. This means that there is definitely a large demand for retail space.

This is backed up by a recent report from South Africas Broll Property Group. Broll, which provides property and real estate services for commercial clients including in Ghana, where through its directly owned subsidiary Broll Ghana it operates two of the largest shopping centres in Ghana, A&C Square and Accra Mall estimates that around 110,000 sq metres of retail space will become available over the next 12 to 24 months, both in Accra and in provincial centres.

Developers are investing in land with the aim of building retail space, though in much of the country, the mall concept is still a very new one. The majority of the malls in Ghana tend to be relatively small at an average size of around 5000 sq metres, and a far cry from the massive landmarks that dominate shopping in the Middle East, where centres such as the UAEs Mall of the Emirates spread over 600,000 sq metres.

Similarly, the vast array of street stalls and small shops means that most transactions tend to happen in the informal or small-scale retail segments, accounting for roughly 90% of all retail activity. As a result, at the moment, the countrys malls tend to draw in high-end retailers and thus have a relatively wealthy clientele; one of the challenges for investors will be broadening Ghanas malls consumer base.

But this is not to say that there is no space for top-end international brands. While there are presently few malls in Ghana, new projects are likely to change the dynamics of the market, according to Kofi Ampong, the CEO of Broll Ghana.

The development of the new mall projects will segment the market more thoroughly, said Ampong. The upcoming projects will probably be a lot more focused on a specific target market. The new malls will take some pressure off Accra Mall and meet demand in certain locations of the city.

Accra Mall, together with A&C Square, dominates the citys retail property market. Accra Mall currently has the highest footfall, attracting around 7m visitors per year, according to Broll. The $34m project, which has 22,900 sq metres of leasable space, was developed by a joint venture between the late Joseph Owusu-Akyaw, a private Ghanaian investor, and Actis, a UK-based private equity firm, and opened in 2008.

A&C Square, formerly known as A&C Mall, was opened in 2005 by local real estate company A&C Development. It has since has undergone a number of expansions, bringing the total size of the development to nearly 10,000 sq metres.

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Economic Update

Dillons : 3/27/2012 What a bad idea this is. That location is out of the way for everyone on the west side of town. Guess that is a good reason to shop at Aldis and Wal Mart. -Rankan Report abuse

RE: Rankan : 3/27/2012 Because Aldi's & Walmart are on the West side?? People I know on the west side shop at 5th Street Dillons. Still, I'd prefer it stay at 30th & Plum. -Just Sayin Report abuse

Let the complaining begin : 3/27/2012 As usual... Hutch doesnt do cwell..the first comment is someone complaining.. we live in a town you can get anywehere in 5 -7 minutes...and your going to say its inconvenient??? I am excited for this new store! I have also heard their will be some new restaurants in the area...I LIKE PROGRESS! -Try smiling Report abuse

dumb decision : 3/27/2012 Constructing a new Dillons store is fine, but closing the one at 30th and Plum is the stupidest thing I heard. There is nothing wrong with that dillons! They are spending more money to make a new one than to keep the one they got. They could make more one their food than wasting money on a new building. Theres also nothing wrong with the location of the one on 30th and Plum Why not put a new Dillons on 17th and keep the one on 30th and Plum. I agree with the comment that says its out of the way for west siders in Hutch.-Rankan... My biggest disappointment is 30th and Plum getting removed. -Disappointed Customer Report abuse

WHY : 3/27/2012 Why would they do this when there is another store like 2 miles down 30th. Why dont they build in South Hutch instead! -just an idea Report abuse

Awesome! : 3/27/2012 This is exciting news!! The Dillons Marketplace in Wichita is amazing! And Rankan, Aldi's will be straight south of the new Dillons, and Wal-Mart is further east. For the west-siders, can you not go to the West 5th, East 4th, or 14th locations? -Progressive is Good! Report abuse

Sure : 3/27/2012 Why not drive even further to buy groceries, Rankan. Thanks Joe- about time. -Thinker Report abuse

Out of the way? : 3/27/2012 You do realize that this town is only 40,000, and that you can drive practically anywhere in the city limits in 10 minutes, right? Plus, isn't Aldi and Wal-Mart on the EAST side of town??? -Chris Report abuse

Agree : 3/27/2012 Northgate is the best location, I hate to see them close the 30th street store and move. I don't really care if we have a marketplace, I just want the store to remain where it is. -Bummed Report abuse

Dillons : 3/27/2012 Bad idea??? Where do you think Walmart and Aldi's are located..Does your post really make sense? -LTC Report abuse

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Dillons plans to build Marketplace store in Hutch

Construction is underway on the TownePlace Suites in Vernal, part of a building boom the city is seeing after a two-year lull. City officials say most of the construction is taking place in the retail and commercial sectors.

Geoff Liesik, Deseret News

VERNAL When people mention the word "boom" in Vernal, they're typically talking about the state of the oil and natural gas industry that drives the Uintah Basin's economy.

But a new kind of boom is under way, and it has folks like Kyle Ashworth dreaming big.

"With the opening of City Creek, which made big headlines in Salt Lake, the focus will now move east to the Uintah Basin, to Vernal, of all places in Utah," said Ashworth, a realtor with Coldwell Banker Aspen Brook Realty.

City Creek Center a $1.5 billion mixed-use development that features more than 80 stores and restaurants, along with office space and condominiums opened March 22. It is expected to provide a huge economic shot in the arm for Salt Lake City.

Vernal City officials hope the same thing will happen when the much smaller Vernal Towne Center the project Ashworth is working on with The Gardner Company as well as other retail and commercial projects are completed in the coming year.

Allen Parker, assistant city manager and planning director, sees the projects as means of diversifying the area's economy, which will offset the "boom-bust cycle" that is commonplace due to the region's reliance on the energy industry.

"What we're looking for is something that will expand upon the development and utilization of natural resources," he said, noting that most of the new businesses coming to town are tied to major companies, "although we've had quite a few small-business owners start up here."

The new growth has led to a staggering increase in the amount of building permit fees the city has collected this year when compared with the fiscal years ending in 2010 and 2011, according to finance director Mike Davis.

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Building boom taking place in Vernal

The landmark downtown Joske's building this year could see the start of construction that would return retail to the space for the first time since 2008.

The New York-based company that owns Rivercenter mall plans to divide the department store space into smaller retail spaces and restore the building's original faade. Interior demolition could start in the year's second quarter.

We hope to start construction midyear and be 70 percent leased at that time, said Joe Press, senior vice president of Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp.

Ashkenazy also will remake the Blum Street pedestrian corridor between the mall and the Menger Hotel into a set of fast casual restaurants with outdoor cafes.

It will be like a promenade, said Michael Alpert, president and vice chairman of Ashkenazy.

And as soon as it signs a lease with a new tenant, it plans to continue renovating the lagoon area of the mall to add more upscale restaurant space, similar to the Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Cho, which opened in 2009.

The changes will help move the mall more in the direction of being an entertainment and dining hub, aspects considered more important at Rivercenter than at traditional suburban malls.

But general manager Chris Oviatt said the mall must continue to balance the retail and dining needs of local shoppers (about 45 percent of mall customers) while serving the 55 percent of its visitors who come from outside Bexar County.

It's not a large mall in terms of leasable space. We have to be really careful about how we segment that in terms of the type of retailing we go after, he said.

The mall has about 565,000 square feet of leasable space, and the changes to the Joske's building will add more than 100,000 to that, he said.

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Former Joske's building could see return to retail

We wrote in January that the grim era for West 42nd Streets south blockfront between Sixth Avenue and Broadway was just about over. Now, subtract just about.

A midline-priced Hilton Garden Inn is under construction next door to the as yet unflagged, 4.5-star hotel at the former Knickerbocker site a crucial step in the ongoing transformation of the long-neglected blockfront.

The 282-room Hilton at 136 W. 42nd St. is being developed by a Highgate Holdings joint venture, which has a contract to sell the 37-story property to Diamond Rock Hospitality for $445,000 per key when its finished in early 2014.

After two years of silence over the new inns identity, Diamond Rock spilled the Hilton beans in a recent summary of its fourth-quarter 2011 results. (So did a recently mounted sign at the construction site.)

With all necessary permits in place, excavation is at last noisily underway.

Meanwhile, FelCorLodging Trust is set to turn the old Knickerbocker at the Broadway corner into 330 hotel rooms. FelCor recently bought the landmark structures 14 upper floors from a Highgate-led JV for $109 million.

FelCor CEO Richard Smith told investors on a conference call this month that what he termed the 4.5-star Knickerbocker, a k a 1466 Broadway, will be the companys flagship when it opens early next year.

Both developments are long overdue. The blocks north side office towers, the Durst Organizations One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square, stood in stark contrast to much of the south side.

The eyesores included the long-in-limbo Knickerbocker, the empty lot (once a flea market) where the Hilton is rising, seemingly permanent scaffolding on Bush Tower also landmarked and low-rise structures now being demolished for a retail glass box.

Both the Knickerbocker and the Hilton Garden site changed hands several times in the past few years, stalling redevelopment until recently. Now, the blockfront is in for a retail renaissance as well.

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Room for Hilton on 42nd St.

Allied Realty is building an $80 million apartment project in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood.

The 332-unit complex will sit on 4.5 acres just west of Interstate 25 on Speer Boulevard. It also will include 10,800 square feet of retail space facing Speer and two levels of underground parking.

The project's amenities will include an outdoor patio with grilling facilities; resort-style lap pool; a kitchen in the club room; a Bocce ball court; and fitness center. Apartments will include balconies; full-size washers and dryers; walk-in closets; and granite countertops.

Units will range in size from a 600-square-foot one bedroom, one-bath to a 1,300-square-foot two-bedroom, two bath apartment. Rents will range from $1,300 a month to $2,300 a month.

Demolition of the existing buildings on the site will begin next week, said Lauren Brockman, principal of Allied. The project is expcted to be completed in July 2014.

Amstar is Allied's equity partner. The project is being designed by Houston-based architect Meeks & Partners and built by Swinerton Builders Colorado.

Because its location is not in the middle of a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the project isn't likely to draw the opposition that a proposed147-unit project in the West Highland neighborhood has, Brockman said.

"The neighborhood has been supportive of this because it meets their comp(rehensive) plan," he said.

While there are a number of apartment projects under construction in the nearby Highland neighborhood, nothing suggests that the area is in danger of being overbuilt, said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing.

The downtown vacancy rate is 4.4 percent and the vacancy rate for northwest Denver is 5.5 percent.

Excerpt from:
Jefferson Park apartment project in Denver's Highland to include 332 units, retail space

Allied Realty is building an $80 million apartment project in Denver's Jefferson Park neighborhood.

The 332-unit complex will sit on 4.5 acres just west of Interstate 25 on Speer Boulevard. It also will include 10,800 square feet of retail space facing Speer and two levels of underground parking.

The project's amenities will include an outdoor patio with grilling facilities; resort-style lap pool; a kitchen in the club room; a Bocce ball court; and fitness center. Apartments will include balconies; full-size washers and dryers; walk-in closets; and granite countertops.

Units will range in size from a 600-square-foot one bedroom, one-bath to a 1,300-square-foot two-bedroom, two bath apartment. Rents will range from $1,300 a month to $2,300 a month.

Demolition of the existing buildings on the site will begin next week, said Lauren Brockman, principal of Allied. The project is expcted to be completed in July 2014.

Amstar is Allied's equity partner. The project is being designed by Houston-based architect Meeks & Partners and built by Swinerton Builders Colorado.

Because its location is not in the middle of a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the project isn't likely to draw the opposition that a proposed147-unit project in the West Highland neighborhood has, Brockman said.

"The neighborhood has been supportive of this because it meets their comp(rehensive) plan," he said.

While there are a number of apartment projects under construction in the nearby Highland neighborhood, nothing suggests that the area is in danger of being overbuilt, said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing.

The downtown vacancy rate is 4.4 percent and the vacancy rate for northwest Denver is 5.5 percent.

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Jefferson Park apartment project to include 332 units, retail space

A debt-free balance-sheet, focus on consulting services, steady orders from government departments and good execution track record make it a safe play.

March 24, 2012:

Stocks in the construction space have underperformed markets in the last couple of years. High debt, poor order book and delays in execution were some of the issues that plagued the sector.

Devoid of these concerns, National Buildings Construction Corporation, a state-owned company in which the government is divesting stake through an IPO, comes as a whiff of fresh air.

Investors with a perspective of three years can invest in this offer for sale by the government in NBCC, a construction project management service provider.

A debt-free balance-sheet, focus on consulting services, steady orders from government departments and good track record of execution make it a relatively safe play on the volatile construction sector.

The offer price of Rs 90-106 discounts the company's annualised FY-12 earnings by a modest 7.2-8.5 times. This is at a steep discount to larger public sector consultancy company Engineers India.

NBCC acts as a consultant from the stage of project conceptualisation to execution and hires a contractor to actually execute the work. It derives over 90 per cent of its revenue from project consultancy for civil construction projects. A small proportion also comes from executing civil infrastructure works for power projects and from real-estate development.

The government will dilute a 10 per cent stake in the company through this offer to raise Rs 127 crore at the higher end of the price band. The company's market capitalisation, on listing, will be about Rs 1,300 crore at the higher end of the price band. That's about half its FY11 sales.

NBCC provides consultancy services for a range of civil construction works, including residential and commercial buildings, hospitals, and educational institutions as well as infrastructure works. The Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and the IITs are some of its clients. NBCC mostly gets repeat orders, even as prospective clients seek its services.

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NBCC - IPO: Invest

NEW BRUNSWICK New Brunswick will get yet another high-rise building, with the city last week approving construction of a 16-story commercial and residential complex across from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital on Somerset Street.

Boraie Development will replace eight homes the company owns with the high-rise, which will include 8,800 square of retail space, 247 parking spaces on four floors and 12 floors of apartments with 238 units.

The city planning board granted three variances for the 159-foot-tall building, 9 feet above zoning limits, which will be situated on a 110-foot-wide lot, 40 feet less than the zoning requires.

The building also will a 7-foot-wide side yard, 3 feet less than required.

From its address at 135 Somerset St., the project will extend back one block to Condict Street.

Planning board members granted the variances and site plan approvals in a four-hour meeting this month that drew an audience of about 25 people, said Glenn Patterson, city director of planning and development.

"Its across the street from the hospital and medical school training facility, a block and half from the train station, a couple blocks from Rutgers University and from the new supermarket," Patterson said.

The building will also be about a block from the Gateway Center on Easton Avenue, with retail business, 40,000 square feet of office space and 42 condominiums and 150 apartments, including 30 affordable-housing units.

The project additionally is about a half-mile from Boraies 25-story mixed-use tower at 1 Spring St., which was built in 2006 and houses retail and condominiums.

For the Somerset Street building, the developer is eligible for urban transit tax credits from the state Economic Development Authority.

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16-story complex to rise above New Brunswick

INDIANAPOLIS -

It's construction season at the Indianapolis Zoo and the downtown attraction is undergoing major changes.

Construction is nearly complete on the entrance of the zoo. For the past few months, workers added a new ticket counter, an expanded gift shop - which opened Saturday - and a new entrance. The additions are to help facilitate the growing number of visitors to one of the city's more popular attractions.

"The zoo was built for a million people. Our baseline now is 1,100,000," said Tim Savona, vice president of operations.

"Normally, you park way over there. This thing's all crowded," said visitor Samantha Bellows.

One of the first things you noticed as you walk into the zoo is express ticketing, where you can buy tickets with a credit card and avoid lines at the ticket booth.

"With the retail space, we added about 30 percent more inside," Savona said.

While the zoo usually adds a new exhibit each year, like the "in your face" tiger space that opened last season, it's the first time since the zoo relocated to the White River State Park they've done any renovation to the entrance.

While the construction was scheduled during down time, the unseasonable temperatures are bringing more visitors than usual who don't seem to mind the mess.

"We didn't have any problem getting here," a visitor said.

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Indianapolis Zoo finishing up major construction projects