Investment worth billions of rand continues to pour into the luxury seaside “village” of uMhlanga – earning it the sobriquet “Sandton-by-the-Sea”.
Rough estimates put investment in the uMhlanga area at about R5 billion in the past 10 years.
At least another R3bn will be pumped into in the seaside hub in the next two to three years, while a further R8bn will go into a top-end housing estate a little further north and adjacent to Sibaya Casino.
And, as the skyline changes to the north of Durban, the municipality envisages a strong economic link from uMhlanga towards Sibaya, Dube TradePort, and King Shaka International Airport.
Several upgrades in the area include completion of the mixed-use Beacon Rock development, Vivian Reddy’s multibillion-rand luxury Gandhi Square project, upgrades to the Protea and Beverly Hills hotels, and a “mega-millionaires circle” in the Sibaya precinct.
“The development in the area north of Durban is an exciting subject. There are 10 new hotels, regional headquarters of big corporates and major shopping centres. The investment flows into the town centre, and the area is booming with development and investment,” said eThekwini Municipality speaker Logie Naidoo, who called the area “Sandton-by-the-Sea” after the affluent Gauteng hub.
The R2.5bn Gandhi Square development, backed by businessman Vivian Reddy’s Edison Group and Rob Alexander of Ducatus Property Group, is expected to break ground later this year and should be completed by the end of 2018.
Pregan Naicker, head of Edison Corporation’s property division, said the development would include high-end retail space. Checkers and Woolworths would be major anchors.
A string of luxury global brands would also be located in the centre.
There would be a 200-bed four- or five-star hotel and about 400 luxury apartments. Some 3 500 parking bays would be created.
“We are very excited about this project. It has been in the making for about eight years now, and we feel the market is ready for it,” said Naicker.
The 7 hectare site included the present taxi rank and an old municipal building.
Naicker said that more than 10 000 construction jobs would be created, while over 3 000 direct jobs would become available once the project had been completed.
Other developments included the completion of the mixed-use Beacon Rock project, which incorporates retail and residential space, upgrades to the Beverly Hills and Protea hotels, and the building of a boutique mall just behind movie mogul Anant Singh’s The Pearls of Umhlanga building.
It was announced earlier this week that exclusive pockets of land in the Sibaya precinct had just been released to cater for the growing millionaire market.
“There are said to be some 250 dollar millionaires in the area,” said Mike Deighton, the managing director of Tongaat Hulett, which owns the land.
The first parcels of land in the long-awaited Sibaya precinct, above the town of eMdloti, had now become available for development.
Of the three parcels of land, one would cater to the mega-millionaires, with 28 exclusive stands on offer.
The precinct would pump R8bn into the local economy, create 7 000 permanent jobs and generate R100m in annual rates.
The uMhlanga area already generated more rates than the Durban CBD, Deighton said.
Independent on Saturday