R1bn hotel and apartment development for Cape Town CBD

Source: Fin24, 31/05/2015

Town - Construction and remodelling of the former Safmarine building
in Cape Town's central business district (CBD) will be complete by the
end of next year, and will see it transformed into the Radisson Blu
Hotel and Residence, Cape Town.
Situated on the corner of Riebeek and Long, the property is located at
the start of Cape Town`s Fan Walk and is just under a 10 minute walk
away from the V&A Waterfront.
There will be 11 floors of executive apartments filling the top half
of the building. The lower half of the building will become one of the
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group`s flagship city developments.
A backup generator will service the entire building.
It is a development of R1bn and is the brainchild of veteran developer
John Rabie, and property owner Shaun Rai. Rabie, the non-executive
chair of Rabie Properties, masterminded the multi-billion rand Century
City and Westlake developments.
In the past two years, through his Signatura label, Rabie has
rejuvenated 19 buildings throughout Cape Town and the Atlantic
Seaboard. The new apartment blocks were developed in response to the
demand from SA`s growing upper middle class for luxury living close to
the city and by the ocean.
Rai is the founding director and member of various successful property
investment companies. He is acting CEO of JSE listed Ascension
Property Fund, which at the date of the last published interim
financial results in December 2014 had achieved a total return of
73.7% and 82.6% on it`s A-linked units and B-linked units
respectively. Rai`s Stonehill Property Fund acquired the building from
Old Mutual in July 2014.
"Although the Cape Town city centre is well known to be open for
business, it is increasingly becoming a very sought-after home
address," said Rabie.
According to the latest statistics from the Central City Improvement
District, residential property worth R296m was sold in the CBD in
2014, with average prices rising from R1.3m to R1.55m from the year
before.
"The apartments will be particularly attractive to international
executives and local businesspeople who want to stay in Cape Town and
have the V&A Waterfront, with its top restaurants and shops, as well
as the Cape Town International Convention Centre on their doorstep,"
said Rabie.
The executive units start at 40m². Penthouses are between 150m² and
160m² with 12m² to 24m² terraces. Prices start at R1.63m.