The $5 million upgrade of the Golden Centre mall in George St is "on target" for a November 6 "formal reopening".
Manager Simon Eddy this week said the redevelopment, which was being done with the mall open, had been a "very painless process", although there were complaints about noise and dust.
Mr Eddy said the link between the mall and the neighbouring Wall Street mall would be opened "as quickly as we can".
"Certainly, we would like to see it opened a little bit earlier than the 6th of November, if we could."
All Golden Centre retail space had been leased, apart from one small area expected to be signed up this week.
Mr Eddy said two retailers, Creation Station and Toyworld, were moving out of the mall and four new tenants, including Acquisitions, Pascoes The Jewellers and T and T Childrenswear, were moving in.
T and T Childrenswear was returning to Dunedin after 19 years' absence.
Mr Eddy said rentals had risen for some retailers on temporary leases "looking at going on to permanent tenancies".
"When you make such a multimillion-dollar investment in an upgrade, sometimes rentals do go up and certainly there has been some adjustment in our tenant list."
Rentals were based on independent valuations.
He said no tenants had approached him with concerns about increased rental and business viability.
