Tall & Urban News

Construction is due to begin soon on Harbour Arch, a new mixed-use complex planned for Cape Town. The city’s municipal planning tribunal approved the development in 2019, which will compete with the V&A Waterfront for residential tenants, one of South Africa’s most-valued commercial assets valued at nearly ZAR20 billion (US$1.3 billion).

The development is set to feature six individual tower blocks and 200,000 square meters of usable space for residential, retail and office space.

The site where it will rise occupies a strategic position at the convergence of major access roads, with easy entry points to and from the N1 and N2 highways. The parcel of Foreshore land was previously owned by Transnet but has since been bought by Amdec. The long-awaited approval of the ZAR14 billion (US$940 million) development aims to utilize the vast potential of Cape Town’s Foreshore area, creating the ideal environment for the regeneration of a strategic part of the city.

“This is not your usual development. It is the establishment of a new 5.8-hectare precinct for the Foreshore that will not only impact on the desirability for that development, but also for all the developments that are under construction or in the planning stages,” says Laurie Wener, a Pam Golding Properties Senior Executive.

“Furthermore, it will establish the harbor as an adjacent precinct to the Waterfront,” she added.

Developed by the Amdec Group, Harbour Arch will be built using the same principles that were applied to the group’s Melrose Arch precinct in Johannesburg.

Already, 95 percent of the residential units in No. 1 Harbour Arch, one of six individual towers, have been sold out, says Mariel Burger, a Pam Golding Properties area specialist for the Waterfront and Foreshore.

“Part of this development’s appeal is that it is located at the gateway to the city, with convenient access to the N1, N2 and the Northern, Western Seaboard and Southern Suburbs.” There is also the allure of a live-work-play lifestyle that will be enhanced by the retail and lifestyle offerings within the precinct.

The residential component of Harbour Arch will include multiple amenities including views of the harbor, a rooftop garden, a swimming pool on the middle bridge of the top floor, an entertainment area open to the public, and a north-facing courtyard lined with shops and restaurants. Residents will be in close distance of the waterfront and popular De Waterkant district of Cape Town.

There are a few one-, two- and three-bedroom units available in this first phase. A one-bedroom apartment on the 21st floor, with a courtyard view, is listed for ZAR2.98 million (US$200,000). A three-bedroom unit on the eighth floor is selling for ZAR6.56 million (US$440,000) while a three-bedroom unit on the 23rd floor, with harbor views, is listed for ZAR8 million (US$540,000).

There will also be two new hotels operated by Marriott International within the development.

“The profile of the Foreshore has already been elevated with the construction of the new Christiaan Barnard Hospital and the expansion of the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Now that the plan for the Harbour Arch precinct has been approved, and work on this seminal development is imminent, we are looking forward to the emergence of a new urban precinct with a myriad of lifestyle benefits,” said Burger.

For more on this story, go to South African Commercial Property News and MyProperty.