Nick Wilson

INVESTEC Private Bank is building itself a new regional office in Menlyn, Pretoria at a cost of about R60m.

Wouter de Vos, head of Investec Private Bank’s northern region, said the company was building a new larger office because of its recent strong growth and confidence in growth prospects.

"We’ve literally grown out of our existing building after three years," said De Vos.

He said there were about 170 staff members at Investec’s offices in Lesika House in Brooklyn. The group had about 2300m² of space.

"We are employing 30 more people over the next few months. That is why there are expectations we will be about 200 people when we move into the new building," said De Vos.

He said the new location would also provide convenience, ease of access and a more central location for clients. Building of the new office block began a month ago, and the occupation date for the new 4600m² property was on May 1 next year.

The developer of the building is Atterbury Property.

De Vos said Investec would own a 50% share in the building, with Atterbury Property owning the other half.

"There is space for expansion in this particular building and if we are going to be in a building for 10 years we’d like to share in the upside (capital growth of a building)," he said.

The building would be managed by a black economic empowerment company, De Vos said.

Michael O’Sullivan of the O’Sullivan Group, which is charged with the building’s interior design, said the new building would enable the use of new technology. He said the building would support the use of flat screen monitors and wireless technologies, and offer improved access to audio-visual support in meeting rooms.