Afrirent Holdings now plans to spend about R2.5 billion on a 35-storey tower next to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). This is almost double the amount the group first announced.
The group, owned by businessman Senzo Tsabedze, got a long-term lease on the site from the City of Cape Town in 2024. At that time, it said it would invest between R1 billion and R1.3 billion, Moneyweb reported.
“It is a project that’s going to create jobs. We’re looking at 2 500 jobs during construction. We’re looking at 400 permanent jobs once the scheme is finished,” Tsabedze said.
The tower is being developed under the name ThirtyFour18. The name comes from the site’s geographical coordinates in the Foreshore area of the city.
According to the developers, the building will have 94 private apartments and seven penthouses. It will also have a 155-room hotel, a rooftop sky bar and a swimming pool.
Four floors will be used for office space, and there will be some shops. The developers said the project responds to growing demand for places to stay in the city, for both tourists and residents.
Afrirent is working on the project with co-developer Lance Chalwin-Milton. He is a co-founder and former managing director of High Street Auctions.
Tsabedze said Cape Town was a clear choice for the group. He pointed to what is happening in the city and the security of its investment environment.
Chalwin-Milton said the developers hope to bring a Michelin-starred restaurant to the rooftop. They are working with a group that wants to bring Michelin-starred chefs to Cape Town.
A second restaurant, open to hotel guests and the public, will be on the sixth floor.
The hotel will have a co-working space on the first floor with direct access to the CTICC. It is meant for conference delegates who need a place to work or charge laptops during events such as the Mining Indaba.
The second and third floors will hold an innovation hub. Chalwin-Milton said the developers hope to lease this space to the CTICC so it can show new technologies. He said such exhibition spaces are popular overseas.
The group said the serviced apartments will have views of the V&A Waterfront, the harbour and Table Mountain.
Cape Town faces a shortage of housing for people on high, middle and low incomes. Its position between the sea and the mountains also limits the land available for building.
Alderman James Vos, the city’s mayoral committee member for economic growth, toured the site with the developers. “We want Cape Town and the world to know that we are open for business,” he said.
“When you have a private sector that’s willing to invest, as a government, you need to do everything possible to make that investment land,” Vos said.
The development team said it chose Cape Town-based professionals for the project. It said the aim was to keep more of the economic benefits in the local economy.
A sales launch is planned for January, and construction is expected to start in April 2027.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Moneyweb. Image: Moneyweb. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.