Construction on the R1.5 billion Hemingways Mall is on track and the shopping centre is scheduled to open later this year.

The mall will be home to more than 207 shops and restaurants when it opens on September 24. Eighty percent of the shops have already been leased in what has been named the biggest mall in the Eastern Cape.

“It’s twice the size of Vincent Park with many shops that aren’t represented in East London,” said Billion Group’s projects director James Stewart.

The upper level of the centre will link directly to the casino and will boast a food court, restaurants and an amphitheatre. Looking out from the restaurants, patrons will have a view of water features and displays of the latest cars on the market.

Motorists can rest easy that there will be minimal traffic congestion on Western Avenue.

Construction on expanding Western Avenue is already under way, with two lanes being added and new traffic management software installed.

East London shoppers can look forward to different types of eateries such as the Cape Town Fish Market and the Butcher’s Grill, who have signed on as tenants.

Stores such as Pick n Pay, Mr Price, Woolworths and Edgars are just a few of the tenants in the 800m -long mall.

Stewart said when walking from the beginning of the mall to the end, past all the shops, a shopper will have covered 1.2km.

At present, 2000 workers are employed at the site and as the opening day approaches, another 1500 jobs will be available.

Hemingways Mall won the “battle of the malls” in East London against the East Coast Mall in Gonubie. Construction on the East Coast Mall was meant to begin in 2006 but, according to Stewart, an economic survey showed that the Eastern Cape could only accommodate one “super mall”.

“After that, their scheme just became impossible. (Hemingways Mall) is going to be the best place in East London,” he said.

Thynk Property Partners declined to comment on the delays on the East Coast Mall, and all executive director Ian Burns would say was that they had initially not been granted zoning but were still planning to go ahead with the development.