Liberty Properties, the property arm of life assurance company Liberty Group, said on Monday it was developing a R206m office project in Century City, Cape Town, for sister company Liberty Life.

Roger Corlett, MD of Liberty Properties, which manages R14bn worth of properties, said earthworks on the project site had begun and that the 17,000m² four storey building would be completed by March 2007.

The new building will provide space for the Liberty Life regional head office in Cape Town.

"The issue is, currently, we have eight offices spread throughout Cape Town. The thinking was to bring all these offices under one roof in Cape Town," said Corlett.

He said Liberty could not find an office that suited this purpose, so decided to build one.

Corlett said to buy an existing A grade building in the same condition would have been more expensive than building a new one.

The new building will be the single-largest commercial property in Century City.

Corlett said the Century City investment brought the property group's total investment in Cape Town to R500m in the past year.

Last year, the group invested about R300m in the Liberty Promenade shopping centre in Mitchell's Plain.

Liberty Life will occupy 12,000m² of space, leaving another 5,000m² available for sub-letting to other tenants.

The development also includes 440 covered parking bays and 156 open bays.

Liberty Properties also announced two weeks ago that it was embarking on a R120m extension to the Liberty Midlands Mall in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal.

Business Day 
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge