History
The Randburg Waterfront was originally built in 1994, and consisted of a large oval of shops and restaurants surrounding a lake in a natural depression in President Ridge in Randburg, fed by the Jukskei River. Shop fronts were constructed to have nautical theme, and the artificial lake had a motorised fountain system built-in, which would give evening synchronised light and water displays to the score of classical and contemporary music. The Waterfront was plagued by several delays in building, and the intended completion date of the complex was pushed back several times; when the official opening day came around, several visitors complained that many stores were uncompleted or not fully furbished.
The Waterfront suffered a decline in visitors after 2000, and as a result some of the many restaurants and small shops were forced to close. Addressing this slump in business, the Waterfront owners, Gray Property Trust, identified several issues leading to the economic downward spiral of the centre. These issues included a too-high restaurant density, insufficient retail space, clubs that encouraged drug abuse (most notably the since-closed infamous Morgan's Cat Nightclub), and - ironically - the large body of water itself, which effectively separated the restaurants from each other and had, by 2000, begun to smell rancid.
Read more about this topic: Brightwater Commons
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