Yardi client Red Sea Markets Company (RSMC) owns Red Sea Mall Jeddah in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia. Red Sea Mall is an iconic shopping and leisure destination and one of the largest shopping centres at Jeddah City. We interviewed Geji Masilela, the company’s CEO. He shared how the company’s use of Yardi Voyager helps them overcome business challenges. Q: What is your company’s background, heritage and history? A: RSMC has been existence for more than a decade. It was initially formed for the development of Red Sea Mall and other properties. Our aim for the next several years is to grow our assets under management. Q: Can you give a flavour of your company’s business culture and philosophy? A: It’s a happy and informal company culture. While we adhere to corporate norms of running a company, our leaders remain down-to-earth and approachable to our employees, customers and tenants. Q: What is your company’s brand in the current market? A: Red Sea Mall is an iconic shopping and leisure destination and one of the largest shopping centres at Jeddah City. The mall has 242,200 square meters of built area and includes a five-star hotel, a seven-story office building, and external and undercover parking areas. The mall blends international and local brands with a variety of restaurants, cafes, diners and entertainment options. Q: Could you give some understanding of the number or value of the assets involved? A: We’re still in the formative stage in terms of assets. We current have one operating asset and another asset under development. We’re actively looking for growth opportunities. Q: What’s your role? A: I’m primarily responsible for identifying and executing those growth initiatives. Q: What motivates you? A: I have a love of shopping malls, serving mall customers and...

According to a market study carried out by the analysts at Technavio, a business reporting service, the retail market in Saudi Arabia will grow steadily at a rate of above 7 percent by 2020. The recent influx of global retailers in Saudi Arabia will result in the steady growth of the market for the next two years, the report projects. To prepare to meet the local, regional and international retail development trends, the Red Sea Mall’s owners chose to adopt the leading cloud-based retail real estate management solution from Yardi, a global technology company with a strong presence in the Middle East. The intent of purchasing the software is to optimise shopping centre operations by managing the asset efficiently and preparing for future growth. Red Sea Mall is one of the biggest shopping centres at Jeddah City, it is located at the northern suburbs on Malik Road. The mall includes 242,200 square meters built area, with a five-star hotel, seven story office building, and both external and undercover parking areas, all of which are linked to the 18 mall entrances. “Among various investments, the retail sector is a major contributor to the increased economic diversification regionally. Accordingly, to enhance the operation of the Red Sea Mall, we invested in the Yardi Commercial Suite,” said Aidrous Al Bar, Executive Member of Red Sea Markets Limited, owning company of the Red Sea Mall. Yardi is a leading, full-business solution for retail property management that centralizes data and automates workflows to help property managers work more efficiently, reduce costs and achieve successful retail center operations. “The software platform will not only allow management to streamline core property management operations, it will also enhance its marketing of rentable spaces, enhance retailer on-boarding and relations, and gain deeper insight...