…Scramble for shelter in Borrowdale The leafy Borrowdale suburb has become a magnet for Zimbabwe’s top corporates that have found a home in the affluent area as they desert the high volume of traffic and parking space constraints in Harare’s central business district (CBD) The scramble for offices in Borrowdale is gradually transforming the suburb into a commercial hub, despite the coming in of Mt Hampden, which is expected to be the new capital city for Zimbabwe in the near future Already, a new Parliament building constructed by Chinese contractor, Shanghai Construction Group in Mt Hampden, about 25km west of the capital Harare In the past, Zimbabwe’s corporate heavyweights favoured to be headquartered in Harare’s CBD But, this does not seem to be the case anymore The few that have remained in the heart of Harare’s CBD are those whose day-to-day business activity is associated with high numbers of traffic or customers Borrowdale has lured notable big corporates such as Zimbabwe’s biggest platinum miner, Zimplats, listed smartech group Cassava Smartech, leading medical aid society CIMAS, Great Dyke Investments and resources firm, Bravura Consortium One of Zimbabwe’s largest financial services providers, CBZ Holdings, and Meikles Limited have also migrated from Harare’s CBD to house their headquarters in Borrowdale Zimbabwe’s capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Zimbabwe has also found a home at the cash-rich National Social Security Authority’s Celestial Park in Borrowdale The now popular area for corporates has also lured diversified financial services group, Zimre Holdings, which has found shelter in Borrowdale just adjacent to Celestial Park The latest to migrate to Borrowdale is financial services provider, NMB Holdings, which recently moved into its multi-million-dollar head office along Borrowdale road The country’s biggest brewer, Delta Corporation, CABS and First Mutual Holdings were some of the pioneers in the Borrowdale area Analysts say the exodus from the CBD is necessitated by the high volume of traffic driving into town and limited parking space which forces many office workers to seek parking outside of their building of employment at an additional cost Costs for parking in the CBD is pegged at ZWL$50 per hour which many have described as exorbitant Power outages and water supply issues are other significant challenges in high rise offices where it is impractical to run a generator for a 20-storey building for example “High traffic volumes and one way streets that are not user friendly have made driving into Harare’s CBD a daily frustration for many,” property expert Kura Chihota told Business Times, adding: “This has caused a growing trend of companies looking to move out of Harare For clients, a visit to CBD offices sees one facing ZWL$50/ hour parking charges and the prospect of having your car clamped are very high Power outages and water supply issues are also other significant challenges in the CBD.” Several other property experts who spoke to Business Times said the influx of big corporates in the Borrowdale area is likely to result in the suburb matching the standards of Sandton City, a commercial hub in Johannesburg, South Africa Source: Business Times All Zim News is a central hub for all things Zimbabwean, curating news from across the country so no story is missed Alongside aggregation, our team of nationwide reporters provides real-time, on-the-ground coverage Stay informed and connected — reach us at admin@allzimnews.com. Source: Businesstimes
