Construction is set to start soon on a R240-million apartment complex in Mossel Bay.

The 84-dwelling complex, called Ocean Crystal, is due for completion shortly before the 2010 World Cup. Construction will start in June.

The development is the brainchild of interior designer Marinda Meyer, the redeveloper of the award-winning Nautica apartment building, previously the Dolphin Bay Hotel.

The Ocean Crystal will be built on a "green-field" hillside with north-facing views over the ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains to the east of the town centre.

With help from business partner Rassie Erasmus and local architect Frik Wagenaar, the design of the building takes some inspiration from the dramatic lines of the world renowned Jumeira Lakes Towers in Dubai with four curved glass towers and a glass fronted exterior lift.

The building will include a health spa, gym, pool, restaurant and bar.

The 84 apartments vary in price from R973 000 for a single bedroom unit to R5,4-million for a three-bedroom double volume penthouse.

Sixteen designs are available and all will be offered with interiors designed by Meyer and fully furnished and equipped.

Forty-nine of the apartments have already been sold to investors and Red Carpet Leisure will manage the property as a five-star boutique hotel.

Meyer said Mossel Bay was ready for some dramatic architecture to enliven a town containing a mixture of elderly structures and unimaginative concrete high-rise hotels. "The accolades we received for the Nautica proved that it was the right way to go," she said.

"The world is looking for imaginative structures and what we need in Mossel Bay are classy buildings to act as icons for the town."

Meyer said she had held discussions with mayor Marie Ferreira, who had initially been sceptical about the design blending in to the surroundings. "However, after the success of the Nautica project, the municipality is now fully behind the project," she said.

"The Nautica received international awards and all involved in Ocean Crystal feel confident that we will achieve the same here."

Eastern Province Herald