Sandton City is a large shopping mall situated in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa. It was built and owned by property development company Rapp and Maister, in partnership with brothers Hilliard and Eli Leibowitz, and was later taken over by Liberty Life (now part of Liberty Holdings Limited). The centre opened to the public on 12 September 1973 and has a gross leasable area of of retail space. The office space combined with the Sandton Sun Hotel increase the total area to . Together, Sandton City and the adjacent Nelson Mandela Square (formerly Sandton Square) form one of the largest retail complexes in Africa with shops such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Patek Phillipe, Dolce & Gabbana and other exclusive boutiques - sometimes referred to as "the richest square mile in Africa". History Sandton City was built as a twenty-one storey, concrete block shopping centre that opened in late 1973. It is an example of the Brutalist architecture that was common in South Africa in the early 1970s. The architecture is also seen in the Golden Acre (Goue Akker), a similar shopping centre built in Cape Town before the construction of Sandton City, the International Terminal at OR Tambo International Airport, the Carlton Centre, new Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg), and the JG Strijdom (since renamed the Hillbrow Tower) in Hillbrow, Central Johannesburg. Most of these buildings were conceived in the late 1960s. 1960s In 1968, Rapp and Maister property developers purchased land consisting of 4 hectares opposite the future Sandton municipal site on the corner of 5th Street and Rivonia Road. Rapp and Maister proposed to build a large shopping mall with an office tower on their site on this highpoint in Sandton. Both the proposed new town location and the shopping centre was contested by many including the Johannesburg City Council and Sandown residents which saw the proposal brought before the Townships Board for a decision. Both municipal and Rapp and Maister's project for a R20 million, 20 storey office tower and 30,000m² retail space was approved. They also were allowed additional retail space up to 90,000 square metres, 60,000 square metres of office space and 20,000 square metres of space for other uses. 1970s Sandton City opened in 1973 with 120 stores on two levels of 50,000 square metres, and added two additional levels of parking for 2,500 cars and outside parking with 25,000 square metres