Infrastructure can handle East multi-billion-rand project
Construction has started on a new multi-billion rand “mixed-use” property development in the east of Pretoria.
Construction has started on a new multi-billion rand “mixed use” property development in the east of Pretoria.
The Rand Castle Gate mixed-use precinct in Erasmus Park along Solomon Mahlangu Drive will comprise 100 000 square metres of office space, 40 000 square meters of specialist medical facilities and a hotel.
It will also include 1 100 residential units as well as a 23 000 square meter convenience retail centre.
The precinct will also include eight hectares of protected green areas. These will incorporate walking and running trails.
This new property development has, however, raised questions as to whether the existing infrastructure would be enough to sustain it.
“[Tshwane mayor Stevens] Mokgalapa is aware of the added pressure on infrastructure that would come as a result of an expansion project of this magnitude,” said mayoral spokesperson Omogolo Taunyane.
She said Mokgalapa supported the development “unequivocally”.
Taunyane said the development is part of a carefully considered planning process that has taken into account the necessity to meet the demand of essential services such as water and electricity.
Taunyane has reassured residents that the infrastructure will not be worsened in any way.
“The current challenges in this regard are being assessed by the City with the intention to resolve as a matter of urgency.”
She said the initiative was well in line with the City’s second strategic pillar “to promote economic growth and development and job creation”.
Feasibility studies showed that at least 30 000 new jobs would be created during the construction phase of Castle Gate, she said.
Co-developed by Atterbury Property Fund (APF) and the Carl Erasmus Trust, the development would create 20 000 permanent jobs, according to the head of marketing Zahn Hulme.
Upon completion, the Castle Gate project is expected to represent a total investment of R6-billion.
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The development will see major roads and infrastructure in the area being upgraded.
The second phase of the Castle Gate project road upgrades include building a new highway bridge across the N1.
This would make it possible to introduce double lanes in both directions on Solomon Mahlangu Drive, between Castle Gate and Hoërskool Waterkloof.
The entire precinct is expected to be developed over the next decade.
The second phase of Castle Gate is planned to begin in mid-2020.
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