Civil work is set to start on an 8 hectare site at Century City – the largest remaining undeveloped tract of land in the precinct – to unlock a number of land parcels for development.
The R8,2million civils contract has been awarded to Neill Zaaiman Civils which will move on site next week. The first land parcel to be unlocked will be the site of a new private school, Curro Century City which is scheduled to open in January 2013 and construction of which started this week.
Curro Century City, which will be the group’s fifth school in the Western Cape, is its first new concept “City school” that will have a bigger academic focus than the larger Curro traditional campuses. It will however also boast a large variety of sports, including tennis courts and a multi-purpose sports field. It will initially operate from Grade RR through to Grade 4 and will phase in Grades 5, 6 & 7 to ensure continuity for learners.
Pending learner demand and growth, Curro will consider extending the planned campus to a fully fledged, integrated campus including a high school in the future catering for approximately 800 learners.
Colin Green, a director of Rabie Property Group, said the civils contract includes the construction of a new road, Socrates Way, the installation of municipal services, the extension of Century City Connect – Century City’s fibre optic backbone; a pocket park where residents and office workers can meet and relax as well as a non motorised transport system involving a pedestrian and bicycle route. In line with other roads in Century City, Socrates Way will boast a number of traffic circles and landscaping with sections of it brick paved.
The installation of the non motorised transport route, he said, would make it possible to walk from most of the residential areas in Century City to the Curro school without crossing a public road.
Green said the bulk infrastructure will also unlock a new residential precinct of about 160 homes which would be developed in a number of phases.
The third land parcel to be unlocked will be an office precinct of around 20 000 square metres that will be developed down the line according to market demand. This commercial precinct will be built on a portion of the site across the road from the regional offices of Liberty Life and the Estuaries Business Park which is home to a total of 32 000 square metres of offices. It is also close to Century City’s park and ride facility, e-parking and the Public Transport Interchange and will also have a stop for the BRT which is to be extended to Century City next year.
