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Thursday: 14 August 2003 |
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This site will be updated on: 21 August 2003 at 17:00 |
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THE light has changed from red, flashed through orange, and is now green for the R240 million shopping mall planned for Paarl South. "We are going ahead," says developer Rodney Squire-Howe of Spire Property Services Group, after the purchase contract with Tiger Foods for the Langeberg site in Cecelia Street was finally signed last week. "We would like to get the main contractor on site in Cecelia Street by early next year, once Tiger Foods has moved part of its production to other parts of the plant and demolished unused buildings." The shopping centre of 35 000 square metres is to be built on 15 hectares of the old Langeberg site between Paarl railway station and Cecelia Street, for completion in 2005. Doors opened for the project after approval by the relevant roads authorities as well as the Drakenstein Municipality, for a reconstructed access road from the N1. After proposals for an access road from the N1 ran into opposition from residents and industries in De Soete Inval and Suider Paarl last year, it was back to the drawing board for the developers. To enable road access to the Mall, the Worcester on-ramp to the N1 must now be moved to the west side of Main Street at the entrance to Paarl. The developers will have to carry the cost for the road reconstruction (including the new off-ramp at Cecelia Street), totalling an estimated R15 million. The N1 bridge over Main Street will be adapted to carry the traffic from the new on-ramp. All necessary approval has been obtained for the access road from the N1, zoning approval and site development plans have been given the go-ahead by the Drakenstein Municipality. Detailed building plans are now being prepared. Negotiations with major national retailers are now being finalised for anchor tenants in the Mall, Squire-Howe said. "We are excited that the development is finally on track and are looking at property investments in Main Street, as there will be major spin-offs from the centre, especially in Paarl South." Plans to erect a giant film studio complex in Paarl had to be ditched earlier this year, when the Tiger Foods premises were sold to the developers of the Paarl Mall. The film studio will now be developed on the Culemborg station premises in Cape Town. The plan to establish the Cape film studio in Paarl at a cost of R100 million, was the brainchild of Anton Nel, Hollywood filmmaker involved with the company Cape Town Motion Picture Studio (CTMPS). CTMPS is partaking in a bidding process for a major film studio in the Western Cape. The consortium found the Paarl premises, with its 78 000sqm of empty buildings, ideally suited to their needs. According to Nel, no additional construction would have been necessary before filming could have started. The site also offered ample space for outside shots and the construction of back lots. "We had a 30 million dollar contract for a television series that we had planned to start shooting on the Langeberg site immediately," Nel said. "But when our offer was declined, the filming moved to Australia." Tiger Brands, owners of the Tiger Foods site, decided not to accept the film company's offer, as they were in the final stages of negotiations with the developers of the shopping mall when the new offer was brought to the table. |
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Gesamentlike Alleenmandaat Sentraal R560 000 Geleë in gesogte area bokant Hoofstraat. Hierdie woning is oor 'n periode met liefde gerestoureer en verbeter. Dit bied 3 slaapkamers, 'n halwe badkamer, groot woonkamer, eetkamer wat oopplan is met gemoderniseerde kombuis, groot motorhuis. U moet kom kyk! Kontak gerus vir André Toerien by 082-579-4884 @home.properties - (021) 872-1997 |
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THE Southern Sun hotel group has clinched a lucrative piece of the highly sought-after spa and wellness market, scooping the management contract for multi-million rand Winelands Hotel and Wellness Centre being built in Simondium near Paarl. The epitome of absolute luxury and style, the Winelands Hotel and Wellness Centre is a perfect fit within Southern Sun's new portfolio of upscale hotels, The Southern Sun Collection, says MD Helder Pereira. "Targeted at the top end of the international leisure and wellness sector, the complex will also strongly appeal to a growing domestic market seeking facilities of this nature. "Southern Sun is delighted to be part of this exciting product. The facility offers something unique and promises to redefine the wellness experience in this country." The complex, which is being developed by Original Developments (Odev), who specialise in unique lifestyle estate developments, is scheduled to open next month. The purpose-built hotel and wellness centre is set in the midst of a 160-hectare working wine estate in the Franschhoek Valley. It is within close proximity of the Cape's top golf courses and is only 30 minutes drive from Cape Town and the international airport. Developer Eduard du Plessis says that The Winelands estate, flagship project for Odev, is located in an exquisite natural setting that is particularly conducive to a wellness lifestyle. "In South Africa, we have the opportunity to capitalise on our country's brilliant colours, open spaces and natural beauty in order to create unique tourism products around the themes of wellness and an holistic approach to mind, body and soul. "With its world class facilities and the superb service and expert attention to detail that is the landmark of The Southern Sun Collection, The Winelands Hotel and Wellness Centre is set to become another jewel in the crown of the Western Cape." The Wellness Centre, operated by the Santé brand, boasts cutting edge therapies, state-of-the-art technology, in-house expert health practitioners, lifestyle consultants and dieticians. The centre's signature Vinotherapy - which offers grape seed therapy in the midst of the vineyards - is a first for South Africa and significantly, it is only the second centre in the world to offer this unique treatment. Vinotherapy was launched in 2001 by Les Sources de Caudalie - a luxurious French spa near Bordeaux. The complex will offer a diverse range of world-class accommodation options, wellness treatments, leisure facilities, fitness training, conference and meeting facilities and gourmet cuisine. Guests can choose to stay in any of the 93 luxuriously appointed rooms. These include 11 fully equipped four-bedroom villas overlooking the lake and each boasting its own private swimming pool; 39 wellness suite apartments, with all the comforts of home such as underfloor heating, DSTV, DVD, a fireplace and a small kitchen, and an exclusive ten-room boutique hotel with a private spa in each bedroom. The hotel will provide every service one would expect at a luxury hotel, including a library, 24-hour room service, valet parking, concierge, same-day laundry and dry-cleaning services, DVD players in each room, two restaurants, a hair salon, chauffeur driven vehicles and guided tours. The Business Centre provides conference facilities for 180 delegates, facilities for exhibitions, four meeting rooms and a boardroom, with internet access and business services to meet any requirement. "For guests who are pursuing holistic wellbeing and want a sanctuary to relax and recuperate, or just a different place to work, meet or network, the Winelands Hotel and Wellness Centre offers tranquility, privacy and a distinctive, world-class experience within the warm embrace of Boland hospitality," concludes Pereira. |
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BOERE in Drakenstein is erg beswaard oor die instelling van eiendomsbelasting op landbougrond. Die Drakenstein Munisipale Raad hef die belasting vanaf 1 Julie teen 'n koers van 0,0035 sent in die Rand. Meer as 100 boere het verlede week op Wellington vergader om protes aan te teken. Hulle was dit eens dat die nuwe grondbelasting nie wenslik is nie en het daarop gewys dat daar groot onsekerheid heers oor waardasies. Hulle is ook ontstoke dat hulle weens gebrekkige kommunikasie nie betyds beswaar kon aanteken teen die waardasies nie. Boere het uit die gehoor daarop gewys dat die koers van 0,0035c/R besonder hoog is in vergelyking met omliggende gebiede soos Malmesbury (0.0025c/R), Kaapstad (0,0028c/R) en Ceres (0,0018c/R). Die beswaartydperk teen die koers eindig vandag. Chris du Toit (AgriSA) en Jacques Carstens (Drakenstein Munisipale Bestuurder) het die boere toegespreek by die vergadering. Volgens Du Toit het die grondbelasting klaarblyklik nie nuwe dienste of kapitaalprojekte ten doel nie. "Die gevaar bestaan dat die Raad die addisionele inkomste bloot sal aanwend om sy groeiende skuldlas te probeer verklein. "Die Raad behoort eerder effektiwiteit van dienslewering en die vordering van betaling vir sodanige dienste te ondersoek. "Grondbelasting is 'n indirekte vorm van belasting op produksiemiddele wat 'n nadelige impak op winsgewendheid en internasionale mededingendheid sal hê." Pierre-Jeanne Gerber, grondeienaar en plaaslike LP, het hom uitgespreek teen die heffing van die belasting vanaf 1 Julie, hoewel hy dié vorm van belasting as regverdiger beskou as streekdiensteraadsheffings. "Die nasionale wetgewing is nog nie deur nie, en weens die oorhaastige implementering het baie mense te laat, of glad nie, kennis gekry van hul waardasies. Dit het die Munisipaliteit baie welwillendheid gekos." Carstens het boere die versekering gegee dat die Raad die proses "so professioneel moontlik bestuur" en dat alle stappe tot op hede geneem wettig en in terme van die ordonnansie plaasvind. "Die Raad is verbind tot die konsep van dienslewering en die Raad sal in die komende finansiële jaar spesifiek dienslewering aan boere ondersoek." Carstens het boere daarop gewys dat hul sekere dienste van die Raad, soos biblioteke, reeds benut en steeds in die toekoms sal mag benut. Een van die boere het die saak opgesom: "Mnr Carstens, jy moet nie te gou staatmaak op die geld nie, want ek moet nog my bankbestuurder daarvoor gaan vra." * Farmers held a protest meeting against property tax in Wellington. |
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BUSINESS people in Paarl East and Paarl West are dissatisfied with the Drakenstein municipal council's procrastination on the proposed urban renewal initiative in the Paarl Central Business District (CBD). Rumour has it that some businessmen have appealed to provincial leaders to try and speed up the process. Fourteen owners with 34 properties in the CBD have already signed a contract with Catalyst Property Asset Managers to facilitate a process for the urban renewal process in central Paarl. Johan Pauw, representing the developers, estimates this would mean a R200 million injection into the CBD just during phase 1. They also envisage, at their own cost, the development of a facility for informal traders as well as future development in the rest of Lady Grey Street as well as in other growth areas in Paarl, as determined by the Municipality. Council has already approved the development in principle, but the finer detail is now endangering the whole project. At a recent meeting of Pauw with the executive committee, Councillor Bokkie Claasen (NNP) gave her wholehearted support to the project wholeheartedly. "One has to be blind not to see the decay. Job creation is important - our people are eating from the rubbish bins." She urged Councillors to support the renewal as an opportunity for everyone. Councillor Deetlefs du Toit (DA) supported her and said if Council did not take this opportunity, they would have to shoulder the blame for the deterioration of Paarl: "We won't survive this one". Municipal Manager Jacques Carstens said he and his management team welcomed the initiative and supported it fully. In a report to Council, the Planning Department said urban settlements were increasingly confronted with the phenomenon of urban decay, which includes both the physical and functional deterioration of the built environment. Such conditions are usually the result of the nature of the historic "footprint" of a town which cannot cater any longer for changing times and needs. Business expands in an unplanned way into neighbouring residential areas, resulting in conflicting land uses and the relocation of residents to areas away from the CBD, with an evident decline in clientele and undesirable urban sprawl. This has led to development of suburban shopping complexes where the full range of consumer needs are concentrated with the one-stop concept. But this concept is plagued by negative impacts such as the high dependency on private motor vehicles, which mostly divorce these shopping complexes from poor communities with minimal mobility. The state of decay and ongoing deterioration of the Paarl CBD is undisputable, and if the situation is left unchecked, it should be anticipated that there is a real threat that key anchor shops will relocate, says the report. Pauw put a holistic plan for the redevelopment potential in the Paarl/Wellington area on the table, as well as a plan for Lady Grey Street. The plan includes the closure of a part of Lady Grey Street and redevelopment of the street as well as surrounding squares such as Patriot Square and Van der Lingen Square, because of the urgency to retain the anchor tenants in the area. A development on the eastern side of the river will form part of Phase 1 and some suggestions in this regard will be put to Council in the near future. Pauw requested Council to make the required land available for development and to support and expedite the speedy rezoning of such areas. He described some of the benefits for Council: In the first place 15 000 m² of new retail bulk will be created in the CBD, which will generate a huge amount of new rates and taxes. It is anticipated that as many as 1200 permanent job opportunities could result either directly or indirectly from such new business ventures. The development will also ensure that the property values of the existing CBD remains intact. The parking ratio in the CBD will, inclusive of the extensions, be more than double the current ratio. A full traffic impact assessment will be done to address all issues, at the developers' cost. The safety and security of patrons to Lady Grey Street will be addressed, while tourists will be drawn into the upgraded area. It should address most of the issues around the informal trading in Lady Grey Street. The coalition in the Council (ANC and NNP) will now formulate a uniform viewpoint on the matter, which they will then communicate to the other parties before starting to negotiate a contract between the Municipality and the developers. |
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PROPERTY AGENTS Aida 872-2161 - www.aida.co.za |
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