Breaking 'ground' on new R215 million Tygervalley office block
Artist rendering of Tygervalley office block
JSE listed property investment and development company, Ingenuity Property Investments, is developing a third office block in its prestigious Santam office park in Tygervalley at a cost of R215million.
Ingenuity CEO Arnold Maresky says Glacier and Santam, both part of the Sanlam Group, will be occupying more than 60% of the 12 350 square metre building which is due for completion in March 2013. A total of around 3800 square metres in the high visibility office block will be available to tenants looking to make a strong corporate statement.
The 12 storey building, designed by Chris Bam Architects in a modern vernacular, will include 581 parking bays over five storeys giving an extremely generous parking ratio of 5,7 bays per 100 square metres of gross lettable area which, he said, would help remedy the parking shortage in the Tygervalley precinct.
Maresky said Ingenuity acquired the 27 054 square metre site and its two existing office blocks which house the Santam Head Office a few years back with the intention of adding value and unlocking bulk on the substantial site as part of its growth strategy.
Formal development rights for the construction of the third building were approved during the past financial year and construction started in November. On completion the total Santam scheme will comprise 27 500 square metres of gross lettable area and 1060 parking bays occupied by blue chip tenants on long leases.
“The development will enable the tenant to increase its dominance and entrench itself in the zone.”
He said the site, which is on Carl Cronje Drive close to the N1 giving easy access for people commuting from a number of different locations within the city, was also in easy walking distance of a variety of local amenities such as the Virgin Active, Tygervalley Shopping centre and the future redevelopment of the Velodrome precinct which will offer a host of new shopping and dining opportunities and an upgraded pedestrian environment ensuring a safe and pleasurable walk between the office, the gym and shopping.
Ebrahim Asmal, Executive Head; Group Sourcing for the Sanlam Group said the group has enjoyed a solid partnership with Ingenuity and the new development offered them opportunities as a group.
Maresky said that in terms of the planning process, the Northern District of the City of Cape Town was very committed to the refurbishment of the Tygervalley precinct and had collaborated closely with them.
“They have been extremely supportive and proactive.”
Charles Rudman, District Manager of Planning and Development, said the building ticked all the boxes with regard to new urbanism in terms of providing a good quality human environment and promoting an active street interface at ground level with the basement parking being screened from public views by curtains of office space.
“It is a building which starts to incorporate all the place making principles which we would like to see in all future developments,” he said.
This project brings the value of redevelopment projects underway by Ingenuity to more than R500m. These include Newspaper House in St George’s Mall and the Atlantic Centre on the Foreshore.
The professional team on the Santam development includes Chris Bam Architects, Bigen Africa (Structural and Civils Engineers), LDM (Quantity Surveyors), JD Reitz (Mechanical and Electrical Engineers), SHE Consultants (Health & Safety), Neil Moir & Associates (Fire Consultants), BKS (Traffic Engineer), Urban Dynamics (Town Planning), David Heilig (Land Surveyor), Aspect Landscape Architecture and WBHO as the main contractor.
