GRAHAM NORRIS

Property Editor

WORK has begun on the new 49 000m2 retail centre at the R800 million Capegate development near Brackenfell, destined to be one of the four or five largest shopping centres in the Western Cape. When complete, the retail centre will be five times larger than the Lifestyle Centre at Capegate, which had a successful opening mid-September, says Timothy Irvine, regional head, Corporate Property, for Nedbank Property and Asset Finance.

"The enormous size of the new complex and the impact it will have on its surroundings have not yet been appreciated by the average Capetonian," says Irvine. Nedbank has a 40% stake in the new centre - sited just off the N1 freeway and accessed by the Brackenfell/Okavango interchange - and its Property and Asset Finance Division is advancing more than R300 million worth of loan finance for the development and its longer-term funding needs. When completed in March, the new complex will have 170 retail outlets. Jaco Odendaal and Ernst Hartwig, the developers who conceived and are managing the project, say that letting has gone exceptionally well. Already more than 70% of the space has been taken up, in almost every case by large national chains.

Anchor tenants will include Pick 'n Pay, Checkers, Woolworths and Edgars. Also signed up are the Foschini, Truworths, Mr Price, Ackermans and Jet Stores groups. Odendaal said that he is pleased with the tenant mix. He is currently negotiating with Nu Metro and Ster Kinekor, one of which is expected to take up eight cinemas. "We are now confident that we will be fully-let well before opening day," he said. Architects for the project are Stauch Voster.

They have come up with a clean, contemporary design, similar to that of the Leisure Centre. The interior design is being handled by Lionel Levine. Irvine said that, before buying into the project, Casey van der Vlugt of Nedbank Corporate Property and David Croeser, a Nedbank corporate qualified valuer, critically assessed the proposed development and had access to information compiled by Dr Dirk Prinsloo of Urban Studies.

It has been shown, he said, that the new centre has the potential to draw on a vast catchment area covering Bellville, Durbanville, Brackenfell and Kraaifontein, as well as such outlying towns as Wellington, Paarl and Worcester, because it is, as its name implies, "the gateway to the Cape". An in-depth survey by Croeser has also indicated that rentals in the new complex will be competitive with those of other Cape regional shopping centres. When complete, the complex will create 1 500 permanent work opportunities. WBHO (Cape) are the main contractors for the project. At peak, they and their subcontractors will have some 500 men on site.

The quantity surveyors are Senekal Allen and Partners, working in conjunction with Davis, Langdon, Farrow, Laing. The consulting engineers are Kwezi V3 Engineers for the civil work and Partnership de Villiers for the structural design. Project managers are CJ Beech and Associates. Irvine said that it had taken Odendaal and Hartwig many years of hard work to transform their vision into a viable reality.

"The research and planning on this project," he said, "has been thorough and Nedbank Property and Asset Finance had little difficulty in buying into the developer's vision." This transaction is one of the largest undertaken in the Cape since the merger of the four groups that now make up Nedbank Property and Asset Finance.

"I was impressed," he added, "by the drive and determination of my colleagues in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg to ensure that we were able to provide the personal service that a project of this nature requires, despite our greatly increased size." For further information, contact Odendaal on 021 930 4009