Construction World February 2015

PROPERTY

of great business 20 YEARS One of South Africa’s most esteemed property businesses, the Atterbury Group, celebrates 20 years of successful operation at the same time as the country marks two decades of democracy in South Africa.

bury was not always the property power- house it is today. It has grown from humble roots. Louis van der Watt and Francois van Niekerk formed Atterbury in 1994, at the same time that SA’s democracy was born. Van der Watt is a natural entrepreneur. His first property transaction was at the tender age of 11. From a young age, he was fascinated by buildings – their design and location. He met Francois van Niekerk as an article clerk for Deloitte at Van Niekerk’s computer business, Infotech. The latter had recently developed his first building and had more land available. Humble beginnings When completing his articles in 1994, Van der Watt joined Van Niekerk to form Atter- bury Property Group with capital well below R1-million. For five years they were Atter- bury’s only employees. The founders each held a 33% share

Twenty years after its founding, Atterbury, the driving force be- hind a growing number of SA’s landmark commercial property

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developments, continues to build quality properties and deliver performance for its investors. Atterbury’s business is conducted through two main companies: Atterbury Property Holdings for developments and, for investment, Attacq Limited, which successfully listed on the JSE in October 2013. Atterbury now comprises about 58 trading companies.

Together Atterbury and Attacq have over 150 employees and offices in Pretoria, Johannes- burg and Mauritius. However, Atter-

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Atterbury’s new head office building called Bloukrans, located at the landmark Lynnwood Bridge precinct, developed by Atterbury in Pretoria. Louis van der Watt, CEO of the Atterbury Group, a company he formed with Francois van Niekerk back in 1994. Today Atterbury is one of South Africa’s foremost property businesses.

CONSTRUCTION BOOM IN MTHATHA Established in 1883, Mthatha, the capital of the former Transkei, is a hive of bustling activity and recognised as the leading city of the area. Situated on the N2, almost midway between Durban and East London, this colourful and lively city is the gateway to the area and the world-famous Wild Coast, with regular flights to and from Johannesburg, says Wayne Rubidge, Pam Golding Properties area principal in the Mthatha area and North Eastern Cape.

November 2014 to ease traffic congestion around the city and streets are being upgraded with robots. Also included in these projects is the new 60 bed Mthatha Hospital which recently opened.” Mthatha has a variety of large suburbs, with the more affluent being Hillcrest, Southern- wood and Northcrest, where properties sell for anything between R1-million and R2-million, with vacant stands selling between R200 000 and R250 000. In more affordable areas like Ncambedlana and Mbuqu, residential proper- ties sell for between R400 000 and R650 000. It is appropriate that Pam Golding Proper- ties has established a presence in Mthatha, as founder and life president Pam Golding was born and schooled there, in later life being awarded an honorary doctorate from theWalter Sisulu University. Says Zuki Khumalo, PamGolding Properties resident agent in Mthatha: “We are still expe- riencing huge stock shortages and that has really pushed up prices, particularly in popular

Says Rubidge: “With a population of around 500 000 people, Mthatha is undergoing a construction boom

2015. Comprising 58 808 m 2 , the mall will have 1 975 parking bays and will service about 390 000 households. It will be the largest shop- ping centre in the Mthatha region, which has a retail undersupply of 477 341 m 2 ,” says Rubidge. “In 2013 the government earmarked R5-billion to rehabilitate the city’s infrastruc- ture over a 20 year period. Projects include a runway completed four months ago at the Mthatha airport, while a new terminal building is underway. A two-lane bridge opened in

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visible everywhere you go, from the upgrading of airports to the building of roads, bridges and at least three new shopping malls. There is excitement in town, with the new and biggest shopping mall Mthatha has ever seen currently underway.” Ninety percent of construction work on the BT Ngebs Mall is completed, with the mall scheduled to open its doors in April

CONSTRUCTION WORLD FEBRUARY 2015