#Centurion Symbio City - 110/80/60F - Mixed Use - Centurion | Proposed

[dysan1]

i am yet to hear anyone argue otherwise...

[JoHaN 15]

Places like Danville, Westonaria, Boksburg etc are shitholes. Look Centurion is no Sandton, but it's far from being a shithole.

[VCollaborator]

Johan,I love Centurion. If I stayed in SA, then I would have probably moved there.

Also have you been to those places (shitholes)? I have and they pleasantly suprised me when compared to the stereotypes...

[Jakes1]

Originally Posted by dysan1

i am yet to hear anyone argue otherwise...

Wow. All hail the moderator, ne. No wonder this forum is moving in a particular direction.

[Lydon]

Really? Centurion a shithole? By that logic we may as well implode the likes of the entire Durban CBD because that is infinitely worse than Centurion is and likely ever will be

[JoHaN 15]

Originally Posted by VCollaborator

Johan,I love Centurion. If I stayed in SA, then I would have probably moved there.

Also have you been to those places (shitholes)? I have and they pleasantly suprised me when compared to the stereotypes...

I've been to Danville a few times and drive through Westonaria every time I visit my grandparents. They are shitholes. I'll admit it's been a few years since I was in Boksburg so things most likely improved but Centurion still is a great deal ahead of the Rand.

This project or even one on a much smaller scale is exactly what the city needs in order to move forward.

[dysan1]

Originally Posted by Jakes1

Wow. All hail the moderator, ne. No wonder this forum is moving in a particular direction.

i am entitled to an opinion

[dysan1]

and heck i was not even being serious. yes Centurion is terribly brown and grey in design, but its more a reaction to this idea being too far fetched

[greenandgold]

Originally Posted by JoHaN 15

Places like Danville, Westonaria, Boksburg etc are shitholes..

Its all thanks to some people from a west African nation I can't call by name... I'm sorry if they offended but they can't be more offended than us, our towns our ruined.

I'm just gratefully that my hometown still looks 6 stars to those.

[Inertia]

Originally Posted by greenandgold

Its all thanks to some people from a west African nation I can't call by name... I'm sorry if they offended but they can't be more offended than us, our towns our ruined.

I'm just gratefully that my hometown still looks 6 stars to those.

If only they would all disappear in a puff of smoke.... No it's not the immigrants/refugees who ruin cities, it's the people who "run" them, or more like run them into the ground

[JoHaN 15]

^ I think Danville was a bit ruined before that But it's a suburb anyway.

[afrikanerboy]

Originally Posted by SA BOY

i was unfortunately in centurion this week. what a shit hole. felt like 1985 and PW botha was still in power

Oh SA Boy you crack me up! Why don't you just say it... You hate Afrikaners!

[Inertia]

Originally Posted by JoHaN 15

I've been to Danville a few times and drive through Westonaria every time I visit my grandparents. They are shitholes. I'll admit it's been a few years since I was in Boksburg so things most likely improved but Centurion still is a great deal ahead of the Rand.

This project or even one on a much smaller scale is exactly what the city needs in order to move forward.

This is not what the city needs to move forward. The fact that the mayor thinks that this is how to make a city work is just STUPID. Fix the BASICS, maintain what you already have, and then tall buildings will organically appear by themselves

[Lydon]

Africa's tallest skyscraper building project face more criticism
By SA Commercial Prop News

Expected to be completed in 2018, an estimated R17 billion has been budgeted for the construction of what could be the tallest building in Africa.

While it has been revealed that the controversial and ambitious Symbio-City project earmarked for Centurion will not be funded out of municipal coffers, detractors are still questioning the rationale behind this project - a project that that many believe will be detrimental to other stakeholders in the area, as well as other office park developments.

The Symbio-City project involves the building of a R17 billion hybrid office and retail development that will include the highest building in Africa – which is earmarked to commence in Centurion.

After an outcry in the press recently it appears that the project is still being considered but that there is a “fair amount of work to be done between the conception of a development and the actual implementation”.
These were the words from Johan Stanbury from Cresco Props, part of the consortium of promoters of the project.

Speaking to Moneyweb, Stanbury said: “What has been done is a desk top study based upon extensive research. A number of the results of this research still have to be verified. There is a fair amount of work to be done between the conception of a development and the actual implementation.”

It was also recently revealed by Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa that the tallest tower in the Symbio-City development will reach 110 storey and will be flanked by two high-rise buildings of 80 and 60 floors each. The total height of the tallest tower will be 447m – which will make it the tallest building in Africa.
But one of the biggest problems, according to many interested parties – including Org Geldenhuys from property management and development company, Abacus DIVISIONS – is that, in order to be sustainable, landlords would have to charge rent in excess of R200 per square meter.

“This is punitively high,” he said. “Who is going to pay rentals as high as this when there are top grade office park developments, such as Highveld Techno Park, which are charging rentals starting at R75 per square meter – and is approximately one kilometer away from the planned Symbio-City site? There is a very good chance that this development could, ultimately, become a white elephant. But, unfortunately, it could negatively affect business in the Centurion area – where there are currently more than 40 000 square meters of still-vacant office space.”

Geldenhuys said while he applauded the “energy” of the consortium who is championing the project, he argued that the City of Tshwane should rather focus on expanding the existing infrastructure in Centurion, and first “properly fix problems”, such as finally cleaning the Centurion lake, which is “akin to a cesspool and is driving business away from the area due to its high pollution risk, its lack of visual appeal, and its lingering smell.”

He pointed out that time and money would be better spent on creating a better overall business environment, including installing fiber optic for improved telecommunications – which is currently problematic.

Meanwhile, Rubesh Pillay of the mayoral committee recently reported in the press that the city’s coffers will not fund the project.

“The project will in fact be funded through private capital raised at risk by the developer of the project.”
Pillay also believes that the city, as a result of the development, will benefit from “substantial income” through property rates and services generated by it as the land still belongs to the municipality.

But concerned businessmen, such as Org Geldenhuys from Abacus DIVISIONS, dismissed this assertion as a “moot point”. “This is all conjecture right now. This is a hugely ambitious project which might just fall flat on its face. But the question we should rather be asking is: do we really need it?”

[Frantic777]

Wish the mayor would rather concentrate on fixing the CBD. I hate this tendancy in RSA of where the government is abandoning the CBDs (with the exception of CPT) for greener pastures.

[JoHaN 15]

Centurion iStore is now open

[mmoi]

I love the idea of a supertall in South Africa, I've alway wanted SA to have a lot of tall skycrappers, but I think this project will be better in other areas, how about creating a new CBD in Cape Town,(in Milnerton for example)

This project would also look great in JHB CDB, Sandton, Durban, Pretoria, or even in East London (I dream of a South African skyline in the border of a river)

[Frantic777]

pie in the sky

[Lydon]

Nothing new, really, but anyway:

Centurion Symbio-City to cost R18.2bn
30 Jul 2012

Centurion Symbio-City in the City of Tshwane said to be Africa’s tallest building will be built at a cost of R18.2 billion and completed in 2018.

The construction will take place through the creation of an African and global landmark incorporating the tallest building in Africa, consisting of two office towers and one residential tower, and will also include hotel and retail facilities.

Work is expected to start by the end of the year according to the City of Tshwane.

Tshwane, the largest metropole in South Africa and the third-largest municipality in the world, is home to 132 embassies and four universities.

According to Councillor Kgosientso Ramokgopa, Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane, timing has never been more appropriate to leverage the economy that Tshwane is contributing towards South Africa’s growth.

He says that the tallest tower will reach 110 storeys and will be flanked by two towers of 80 and 60 floors. The total height of the tallest tower will be 447 metres.

The Symbio-City development will be built on and around Centurion Lake on 10 hectares of land.

“The location is between the Ben Schoeman Highway and the N1 Highway corridor and is adjacent to the Gautrain Station.”

Ramakgopa says it is an environment currently surrounded by businesses, offices and residential and commercial facilities.

This locality in Gauteng, which as a province is the fourth largest economy in Africa, has immense potential waiting to be unlocked, he points out.

Ramakgopa says Centurion can be transformed into a new economy because it has since developed as a separate city along axes and nodes in a lattice network.

“It is integrated with modern highways and activity axes along the developmental corridors between Johannesburg and Pretoria and between the primary airport in South Africa and Pretoria. Centurion now houses 320 000 inhabitants while the grid can accommodate many more.”

Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni are the extremities of the Golden Economic Triangle of Gauteng, he says.

Centurion is positioned within the development corridors linking these cities and thus it will be a major player in the proposed high intensity developments, which are destined to take place in the region.

He explains that Centurion has the inherent potential to develop further as a speciality city embodying the concepts of knowledge development, symbiosis, and creativity, as well as being green and environmentally near self-sustaining.

While Centurion is the natural site upon which Gauteng’s knowledge capital and hub of innovation to Africa can be built, the natural consequence hereof is a liveable, prosperous, competitive, equitable, accessible and sustainable city development, he says.

Ramokgopasays that the Symbio-City development will offer high quality living experiences in which people will want to live and invest.

“The development is a reflection of the range of economic opportunities, cultural experiences, safety and a quality physical environment that Tshwane offers.”

He notes that the availability of a variety of effective and efficiently provided public services, as well as affordable and green commuting options and amenities are all important factors in creating a high quality living experience.

The construction of this development will also assist towards job creation, by generating in excess of 10 000 jobs during construction and in excess of 4 000 sustainable jobs post construction, he says.

“With 57 percent of the local labour force in the area being involved in professional and related occupations, all suburbs in the trade area are predominantly middle-to-high income suburbs.”

The construction and development of Centurion Symbio-City will contribute towards a new chapter for the City of Tshwane, developing the city into a first class destination for both visitors and residents, adds Ramokgopa.

Source: Property24

[JoHaN 15]

Even if it doesn't get built, the hype the proposal has created has been very good. The mall is undergoing some renovation and a few higher end brands are moving here.