New Developments

A multi-use precinct 

The Acsiopolis building is a multi-use lifestyle precinct on one hectare of land in the heart of Sandton. Its offerings include substantial luxury hotel rooms, apartments and multiple other facilities designed to draw investors and residents from all stages of life. The apartments are available for lease, not outright purchase.

Constructed on an undeveloped site, previously serving as a parking lot, in Benmore, the building complex was developed by property development and management company Anaprop, which is owned by Acsion Ltd.

The property itself is substantial. Astrino Nicoloudakis, CIO of Acsion, mentions a gross building area of 147 000m² for the whole site and a gross leasable area of 67 000m² for the main building.

“It boasts six basements of parking under the twenty developed floors within the main building. A full green area envelope has been developed to meet the main requirement of providing affordable, secure accommodation in the heart of Sandton,” says Nicoloudakis.

“Our vision for the building is unique, encompassing all the uses and services required for people at all stages of life. You can move in as a single person and still be living here as a retiree because there are studio apartments, three-bedroom apartments and penthouses.

“The overarching concept is ‘live, work, play’ all at one address. The multi-use lifestyle precinct includes a 561-room luxury hotel, 480 upmarket leased apartments, and conferencing and event facilities, including an 80-seater auditorium. We offer a co-working space with hot desks, office space and boardrooms, an NCF-curriculum nursery school, doctors’ rooms, a gym, clubhouse, deli, restaurants, a spa and retail outlets,” Nicoloudakis explains.

Business and leisure 

The privately-owned ANEW Hotels & Resorts Group recently announced the opening of two new properties in Gauteng – the ANEW Hotel Parktonian in Braamfontein and the ANEW Hotel Roodepoort.

The Parktonian (formerly a Protea Hotel by Marriott) is one of the largest in the group’s portfolio, boasting 300 rooms with extensive conferencing facilities within Braamfontein’s central node. It has incredible potential for combining business and leisure, says Alan Campbell, ANEW Hotels & Resorts’ sales and marketing director.

While the existing property was a rebrand and the original focus was on increasing services and training staff to a new level, Campbell says that the group is now beginning with “serious renovations”. The hotel’s skydeck, which has been closed for full renovations, will reopen in September 2022, followed by upgrades to the rooms.

“One of the reasons we were interested in the Parktonian is because it has many rooms, which can be set up as suites, semi self-catering, or full self-catering rooms. We also have the potential to convert more of these rooms into apartment-style, as we foresee growth in this market,” he says.

The Roodepoort hotel (formerly also a Protea Hotel), a much newer facility, is located close to all the business hubs in Johannesburg. Campbell says: “This has been a phenomenal addition for the group. It doesn’t offer apartments in the traditional sense of the word, the style being more like hotel rooms, but they are great rooms with spacious balconies looking out onto a green office oasis in the middle of Roodepoort,” he explains.

“July 2022 was a record month for us – the best ever in our history! This won’t be the last record we set. We expect to break historical revenue targets in the future. We are very upbeat and confident and have seen massive growth in the domestic leisure market,” he concludes.

Reshaping urban spaces

Pierre Lahaye, partner at MDS Architecture, says that they are increasingly witnessing an evolution to mixed-use alternatives. “In our experience at MDS Architecture, a retail node often becomes the catalyst for further development and this, in turn, results in more functional areas.

“Even in less urban settings, a retail component develops into villages complete with squares, village greens and a high street component. As an added bonus – especially in more rural settings – mixed-use developments usually involve varying degrees of infrastructure upgrades. Our shopping centres are drawing people in and increasingly serving as gathering places and opportunities for communities to interact while offering much broader retail and entertainment options.

“Mixed-use developments are popular worldwide because they represent the way people want to live – close to amenities and the places they visit every day. The idea of mixed-use spaces is quite well developed on the African continent, so it is encouraging to see the development of South African iterations, resulting in improvements for residents,” Lahaye explains.

Live, work, play…