Golfer Nick Price and Wimbledon tennis champion Roger Federer are among the millionaires who will have homes at a new playground for the super-elite in Knysna - claimed to be "the most expensive piece of dirt in South Africa".

Located along the sea-facing cliffs of Knysna's Eastern Head, the one hectare plots are selling for up to R14-million a piece. Even more expensive houses will make many of the properties worth more than R30-million.

Last week, US tycoon Keith Stewart, chairman of the Pezula Group which is developing the estate, revealed that the land alone for the 255 homes was worth R550-million. On completion, the estate would be the country's most valuable residential development, at around R3-billion.

"We've already sold R150-million worth in the first phase and that's just for the dirt," he said. "In terms of lifestyle, this truly could be the rarest place on Earth."

Former world number one golfer Price has bought one of eight plots that make up Pezula's "ultra exclusive" cliff-top row - next to the Sinclair Nature Reserve and overlooking the pristine Noetzie Beach - while Federer and current Wimbledon doubles champion Jonas Bjorkman have also signed up.

Price, a resident of Florida, US, who has not had a home in Africa for more than a decade, said: "I knew I had discovered a unique property where my family could enjoy an exceptional living experience surrounded by a natural environment so uniquely African."

Meanwhile, approvals have been granted for the town's first five-star hotel, and 600 "colonial maritime-style" homes divided by Venetian-style canals are being built on mini islands in the Knysna Lagoon.

Already, the Eastern Head is home to the likes of Nedcor CEO Richard Laubscher and IT tycoon Trevor Cloete, whose computer-run home above the lagoon has an estimated value of R25-million.

William Smith, tour operator and television maths educator who owns the Western Head, said Knysna was already South Africa's millionaire capital and the elite developments would turn it into Africa's version of Carmel in California.

However, Ossie Gibson, spokes man for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape, said objections had been received about Pezula's plan to use water from the nearby Noetzie River. He cautioned that the development could go ahead only after a new environmental impact assessment process.

Stewart said Pezula's plus over Cape Town's super-elite Clifton were the wide spaces and indigenous flora that would separate neighbours. Developers are removing alien plants as part of a massive private land rehabilitation project, while retaining its thick covering of fynbos as well as 150ha of indigenous forest.

Cape Town-based derivatives trader Frank Cadiz has bought the largest property at Pezula - 3.3ha - but said estate conservation rules were so strict he'd be able to develop only a ninth of it.

"It's still a wonderful investment - there's stunning fynbos on the land, and they want owners to preserve the bulk of it," he said.

"It's very secure and it's a fantastic environment for a family . . . And my brother has bought the site in front of mine. It's an awesome spot."

Sunday Times