Construction World July 2021

The tourism and hospitality sectors have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 outbreak but construction and property development industries have also been brought to their knees, plagued by project delays and contract cancellations resulting in widespread job losses and retrenchments. KEY CONTR IBUTOR TO WESTERN CAPE COVID-19 RECOVERY PLAN From lef t : Developer James Wi lson (Amdec Group CEO) , Western Cape Premier – Alan Winde and Nicholas Stopfor th (Amdec Proper ty Developments Managing Director.

“T he construction industry has taken a pounding in recent years, with the collapse of Group Five and other big industry players, but it’s decline has been significantly exacerbated by the nationwide lockdown imposed last year,” says Nicholas Stopforth, Amdec Property Developments Managing Director. While many developers have responded to the sector downturn by taking a cautious approach and adopting a wait-and-see attitude, one company bucking this trend is the privately-owned and operated Amdec Group, developers behind the Harbour Arch mixed-use precinct on Cape Town’s foreshore. At a recent site inspection attended by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, Wesgro CEO Tim Harris and Investment Manager Rehana Boolay and Amdec Group’s CEO James Wilson, said that he wasn’t aware of any other privately-funded developments of the scale of Harbour Arch in Cape Town – and possibly even nationally - under construction and progressing at such an aggressive pace. “Our decision to forge ahead with the development under current conditions is a real statement that demonstrates our confidence in this country and that we believe in the long-term future and economic viability of South Africa”, Wilson said. ”Current levels of poverty and unemployment are excessive and unacceptable, so it is vital that the public and private sectors work together much more closely and create employment opportunities to alleviate this.” Premier Alan Winde commended the Amdec Group for being bold in the development space, saying that Harbour Arch would contribute significantly to the region’s post-Covid economic recovery plan. “Harbour Arch is a flagship investment in the City of Cape Town, and will contribute in an important way to job creation at a time when our province desperately needs it ,” he said. “These are really exciting

times for a developing city and I think that job-creating investments such as this one are definitely going to influence further future development in the region.” Harbour Arch wi l l see the redevelopment of the 5,8 hectare Culemborg si te on the north-eastern edge of the Cape Town CBD into a large-scale mixed-use development comprising six individual towers. Wi th close to 200 000 m 2 of usable space, the precinct wi l l accommodate resident ial apartments, commercial of f ice space, hotels, shops, restaurants, motor dealerships, an urban park , and more. Wi lson said that Harbour Arch hopes to provide in the region of 20 000 construct ion jobs over the next ten years, var ying f rom labour opportuni t ies through to highly ski l led art isans and project managers. “The Amdec Group bel ieves strongly in transformat ion and empowerment , and wi l l have a f i rm focus on partnering wi th smal l black-owned businesses who operate wi thin the construct ion and real estate sectors. We hope to bring them onboard as subcontractors to our main contractor, WBHO, and provide opportuni t ies for growth, learning and upski l l ing”, Wi lson shared. “A project of this magni tude does not only show that the Ci ty of Cape Town is open for business, and that people are st i l l conf ident about invest ing here but i t 's also cri t ical for job creat ion and attract ing trade and investment into the province. I ful ly support the Amdec Group’s vision, and hope that this is not the last development we wi l l see f rom them in our ci ty and province," concluded Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris. Construct ion of Harbour Arch Tower One is proceeding at pace and is on programme for complet ion in May 2023. 

43 CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2021