CAPETONIANS have not yet awoken fully to the fact that the Milnerton Royal Ascot development is one of the most successful, fastest-growing mixed-use projects ever seen in Cape Town and that residential sales are already past the halfway mark.

Development manager, Mark Bezencon of Rabie, (who was appointed by the developers, Investec Property Group) reports that 550 homes have now been sold.

“What that means is that in 18 months our seven sub developers, operating through ten projects (which includes second and third phases) have notched up over R250 million worth of sales,” says Bezencon.

He adds that 800 development ‘opportunities’ at Royal Ascot have now been sold and the remaining 500 are under option. He is now confident that the development will be complete by mid 2005, i.e. within three years of the inception and two years ahead of the original five year programme. All the roads, services and landscaped sidewalks and parks (with a contract value of R45m) will be complete by March 2004, allowing developers access to all the villages. Any analysis of the reasons for Royal Ascot’s success, says Bezencon, will probably give credit to:
Royal Ascot’s ability to cater for the entire market, including both investors and homeowners, the latter being everything from young singles or couples through to fledgling and growing families and pending retirees.

“We have been offering a smorgasbord,” he says. “You can get exactly what you want in accommodation, style and price.”
Highly competitive pricing. Initial prices at Royal Ascot started at around R400 000 – and these have already appreciated by over R100 000. At the top end penthouses, big units with three bedrooms, two and half bathrooms and garaging now sell for up to R900 000. However units can still be had from the early R500 000’s.

“The prices”, says Investec’s Farrel Osher, “have been kept extremely competitive because all the developers are competing with each other on quality and price as we planned from the outset”.

The appeal of modern town planning and an emphasis on landscaping.

The developers have integrated the various villages with a series of walkways linking the fynbos reserve in the centre and a number of play parks throughout the estate. External walls punctuated with palisade fencing screen and protect the villages from the public roads and provide a common architectural link that transcends the various architectural styles.

The design guidelines which have had to be adhered to by all developers. These, says Bezencon, have ensured that no one project can detract from the high standard of the development as a whole – but have been flexible enough to allow for considerable variety, e.g. from Cape Cod to Tuscan and Provencal styles.

The tight ‘double’ security. ‘Double’ explains Bezencon refers to the estate as a whole having its own security arrangements (recently awarded to Chubb) but each village is also walled or fenced and can be entered only through a single controlled gatehouse. Chubb is now being encouraged by the developers, as the preferred supplier, also to enter into contracts with individual home owners at substantially reduced premiums. “Another factor very much in the estate’s favour”, says Osher, “is that a 9 000sq m shopping centre right on Royal Ascot’s doorstep is now under construction and is scheduled to open its doors in July next year.”

The newest development, Chestnut Ridge, has just been launched, with Investec and Rabie themselves playing the role of residential developers – for the first time.