Construction of a R1billion mixed-use development which will include a 900 seat conference centre and a 125 room hotel, is underway in the Bridgeways Precinct of Century City.
The development will include offices, showrooms, residential apartments and service retail and a five level parking garage with direct access to the Century City Conference Centre. The entire development will be set over a super parking basement which, together with the structured parking, will provide a total of 1300 bays.
Anchoring the development will be a bustling, multi-functional Urban Square on to which restaurants and the other hospitality elements will flow.
This is the largest project undertaken by the Rabie Property Group at Century City since it acquired the remaining land and associated development rights in 2004.
Greg Deans, a director of Rabie, says the conference centre will have a total capacity of 1900 in 20 venues.
“Its development is in response to soaring demand for conferencing and hotels in the burgeoning Century City precinct and it has been designed to complement Cape Town and Century City’s existing facilities.
“Not only will it fill a gap in the market but we believe it will help cement Cape Town’s established attractiveness as a conference destination.”
The Century City Conference Centre (CCCC), he said, would offer flexible configurations.
Three adjoining halls will have a total capacity of more than 900 delegates cinema style with a fourth hall able to accommodate a further 480 delegates cinema style. The multi-function venues will also be available for banqueting and exhibitions while a large pre-assembly area will be available for exhibitions, product launches and the like.
It will also offer 12 meeting and breakaway rooms and a business lounge on the first floor able to accommodate around 200 delegates.
Deans said the average hotel occupancy at Century City, which currently has a total of 460 rooms in five hotels, is running at over 73%.
Century City’s popularity as a hospitality node, he said, has grown phenomenally in recent years in tandem with the growth of the precinct which is now home to more than 500 businesses and with more than 260 000 square metres of offices is currently the third largest commercial precinct in Cape Town.
“And the existing conference facilities, which range from 20 seat venues to a 300 seat facility, are unable to keep up with demand and have had to turn away business, particularly for larger conferences.”
He said the CCCC, in partnership with Century City Connect, Century City’s open access fibre optic network, will offer delegates and guests world-class fibre optic and wireless connectivity.
Murray & Roberts, the main contractors on the project, moved on site in June with all components of the development scheduled for completion by end 2015 and the first conferences expected to be hosted in early 2016.
The Architect for the project is Vivid Architects while Source have been appointed Interior Decorators for the CCCC and Origin for the Hotel.
For further details contact Greg Deans on 021 550 7000 or go to www.centurycityconferencecentre.com
