Property Editor A NEW mixed-use development on a 3.6ha site in Parklands - the biggest project currently under way in the suburb - represents the first phase of a $30 million investment in South Africa by a major Iranian consortium.

The consortium - represented in 27 countries around the world - has established a company in South Africa called One Vision Investments, which is developing Ashwood Centre, a residential, commercial and retail project in the centre of Parklands valued at about R75 million.

The residential component will comprise 148 units, made up of apartments, freestanding townhouses and penthouses, with the flats being priced from R270 000 and the townhouses from R380 000. Gholam Amouhadi, managing director of One Vision Investments, said the idea was to create "a city within a city" in which people could live and work and do their shopping. Situated in Parklands Main Road in the centre of the fast-growing suburb, it will have convenience stores, facilities for medical suites, a laundry and a petrol station.

"One of the unique features of Ashwood Centre is that some of the building materials, including certain bricks, tiles and sanitaryware, will be supplied by the consortium's subsidiaries in the Middle East, which have never been seen in South Africa before."

Amouhadi emphasised, however, that local professionals and labour would be used on the project. He said the group had embarked on the investment drive after being approached by Douw Vermaak, head of the business section of the South African Embassy in Tehran. "We were then helped to establish a presence here by the Western Cape Investment and Trade Promotion Agency, Wesgro."

Amouhadi said his company also had a five-year plan to establish manufacturing facilities in the Western and Eastern Cape in partnership with local companies. The first factories would involve industries such as PVC piping, galvanising, porcelain and the crafting of marble. "The long-term aim is to motivate SA companies to enter into joint ventures in the manufacturing sector.

This will help the country to boost its exports and create jobs. We estimate that our investment in new factories will create at least 3 000 jobs. "The porcelain factory alone will create 500 jobs, and 80% of the workforce will be women - we will be helping to empower them." Amouhadi added that Iran would also gain from the investment, tapping into SA expertise in certain industries.

"South Africa is among the top ten countries in the world in the chemical industry and were are negotiating with certain SA companies to transfer this technology to Iran. Packaging is another industry in which we can benefit from SA input."