It has granted a R500m loan to Century City Property Developments, a company controlled by leading development company, Rabie Property Projects. The loan will primarily be used to finance the development of three major projects underway at Century City, namely the KnightsBridge residential apartment towers, the Colosseum mixed use development comprising ancillary retail, offices and hotel suites and Bougain Villas, a residential development comprising 138 sectional title apartments and 43 free-standing homes in the first phase as well as ongoing bulk infrastructural projects.

Timothy Irvine, Head of Nedbank Corporate Property Finance in the Cape, said the nature of the security for the loan was such that it would enable Nedbank Corporate Property Finance to facilitate the funding of future development opportunities for Century City Property Developments.

"Satisfactory levels of sales have been achieved on all of the projects and work is now well under way on Knights Bridge, piling has commenced on the Colosseum, and the first stands are already being transferred at Bougain Villas."Irvine said that when Nedbank, which has always had a close association with Century City, sold it to Rabie-controlled Century City Property Developments 18 months ago, the Rabie Group had been committed to following through the "new-urbanist" vision for Century City.

"We are ecstatic that they, together with Greg Deans and the rest of the Century City management team, have not only followed through on this commitment but are adding greatly to what had previously been achieved and in so doing are creating a premier product that we are all extremely proud to be associated with."

Irvinesaid that as a result of a "real understanding of and respect for the Century City project and specifically the Rabie Group", it had been possible to get the go-ahead on the loan facility within just two weeks.

Close collaboration between the Nedbank customer relations consultant, Casey van der Vlugt, the Cape credit team and the Johannesburg head office had, said Irvine, made for an exceptionally fast approval time.

Nedbank previously financed The Island Club, the Rabie Group’s first project at Century City in late 2002, and had been particularly impressed by the design, landscaping and roll-out speed of this project.

Nedbank has also been involved in financing a number of other properties and projects within Century City including Fusion Quarter, Waterford Mews, Century Square, the Oasis, Boulevard Square and the acquisition of Ratanga Junction in June this year.

"The Rabie Group has shown that they have a real understanding of the property market. They are now well into the planning stages on commercial and mixed-use developments at Century City to which the demand has now swung and which are likely, therefore, to be as successful as the residential units on which their focus has been to date," he said.