 THE
built environment at Cape Town’s well-known mixed-use precinct, Century
City, is set to double in size within 18 months, with 14 major commercial
and residential projects worth R4,3bn either under construction or about
to be started.
Because of huge demand for office space in Cape Town, the bulk of the
new developments being rolled out are commercial properties, primarily
for owner-occupiers. The most recent office property development launched
at Century City is the R350m office park The Estuaries, which sold out
in 24 hours at its launch two weeks ago.
Greg Deans, MD of Century City Property Developments, says the 35000m²
of space at the office park would normally have taken about two years
to be taken up by owner-occupiers.
The owner-occupiers will take transfer of The Estuaries next year and
have to complete their office developments within two years. Century
City only sells a limited amount of land for speculative development
and only a few of the buyers at The Estuaries are developers. The Estuaries
includes a total of 18 office sites, each having an area for development
of 1000m² to 4500m².
Owner-occupiers who are locked in include CIB Insurance, eTradex and
De Vos Paxton Incorporated Consulting Engineers.
Deans says The Estuaries is currently the only tract of land at Century
City consisting of individual erven available for office development
and this has filled the gap in the small to medium-sized development
market.
He says they could make more land available down the line if there
was enough demand.
In total about 173000m² of new commercial space is under construction
or about to start at Century City. Of this about 120000m² will
be offices, 40000m² motor and other showrooms and 2000m² retail.
Last month Liberty Properties, the property arm of life assurance company
Liberty Group, announced it will develop a R206m office project in Century
City for sister company Liberty Life.
Construction of the 17000m² four-storey building has begun and
it is expected to be completed by March 2007. The new building will
house the Liberty Life regional head office in Cape Town and will consolidate
the group’s eight offices spread throughout Cape Town.
Other commercial developments now under construction include DaimlerChrysler’s
new brand campus, which will house Mercedes-Benz and Chrysler Jeep lifestyle
centres; the 10000m² Waterview Park office block; the 40000m²
Century Gate Business Park; and an extension of the landmark Knowledge
Park by Spearhead Property Holdings.
Residential developments under construction include the KnightsBridge
apartment towers, the Bougain Villas residential development, the Island
Club and Villa Italia residential complexes, Century View and the Oasis
retirement complex.
Deans says The Oasis retirement complex aims to “get the full
array of the life-span” of Century City’s inhabitants with
450 apartments aimed at the retired.
He says Canal Walk shopping centre — the largest in Africa —
and the security that Century City offers are attracting many retired
people to the area.
The Colosseum, a R300m mixed-use complex under construction, consists
of groundfloor retail, offices above and residential suites on the top
floor.
An infrastructure roll-out is also under way at Century City to support
the new developments. Projects totalling more than R52m were completed
in the past year, while a further R210m will be spent over the next
two years
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Newsletter:
3 February 2012 to 10 February 2012 - Krugersdorp, Gauteng, South Africa
