The foreign consortium that acquired the Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront for more than R7bn plans to bring at least 10 more hotels, and top fashion brands, to the Cape Town property.

This is part of the consortium's plan to turn the V&A into an "African Riviera".

Last week, Transnet announced that Dubai-based Istithmar - Dubai World's investment arm - and UK-based London & Regional Properties had won the race for SA's most visited property and leisure development.

Transnet announced plans three months ago for the sale of the V&A Waterfront Company, which owns the development, and more than 60 South African and international companies took part in the bidding process.

The joint venture that won the bid includes a number of South African broad-based black economic empowerment investors.

Speaking from Dubai last week, Mahmoud Saleh, the secretary-general of Dubai World, said that when its representatives had visited Cape Town to see the project, they had been impressed by the ?beautiful waterfront?. But he said that the property had not been "utilised properly".

"There are a lot of opportunities to transform the waterfront by bringing in top-notch international retail brands and creating a 'street of the dream', where you have top-notch brands like Dolce & Gabanna and Versace. This is similar to what you see on the Spanish or French Riviera," he said.

Saleh said the consortium wanted to "uplift" the Waterfront to make it more of a "pleasure place to stay and a leisure destination".

"People on average stay two to three days and we're trying to make it one week. We want to make it a major holiday destination. The Soccer World Cup is coming in 2010 and we would like to integrate the waterfront with the event and make it an attractive place for visitors to the football games."

Saleh said the consortium would come up with a "new master plan" and invite top architects to come up with "new ideas and new themes".

"We think we can bring 10 more hotels to the V&A," he said.

The plans would be for ?mixed use? and the retail sector would be extended.

"We will bring a famous chain of coffee shops and signature restaurants, typically found in London or Paris."

Saleh said he was "very happy and pleased" that Dubai was part of the winning consortium. "This ... will be a further gateway to the strengthening of (the United) Arab Emirates? ties with SA. We are sure it will attract more investors to SA."

The V&A Waterfront is a mixed-use development, in which shopping and entertainment centres are mixed with offices, hotels and apartments.

Its hotels include Sun International's Table Bay hotel and the Cape Grace. It attracts more than 22-million visitors a year.

Business Day