The Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA) is in talks with China Square to be the anchor tenant at their mall in Mamboleo, Kisumu County.
According to LBDA Managing Director Wycliffe Ochiaga, the Authority is optimistic about attracting huge human traffic should the negotiations see the light of day.
Speaking at a press conference in Kisumu on Wednesday, Ochiaga said they are keen to bring investors to the lakeside city to spur regional growth and offer locals employment opportunities.
“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 China Square, 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.
Further, he said the mall has huge business potential due to its strategic location.
He says that the mall, which is 360,000 square feet, is currently 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.
