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While it has been revealed that the controversial and ambitious Symbio-City project earmarked for Centurion will not be funded out of municipal coffers, detractors are still questioning the rationale behind this project — a project that that many believe will be detrimental to other stakeholders in the area as well as other office park developments.
The Symbio-City project involves the building of a R17-billion hybrid office and retail development that will include the highest building in Africa — which is earmarked to commence in Centurion.
After an outcry in the press recently, it was reported — later last week — by online financial publication MONEYWEB, that the project was still being considered and that there is a "fair amount of work to be done between the conception of a development and the actual implementation".
These were the words from Johan Stanbury from Cresco Props, part of the consortium of promoters of the project.
Speaking to Moneyweb, Stanbury said: "What has been done is a desk top study based upon extensive research. A number results of this research still has to be verified. There is a fair amount of work to be done between the conception of a development and the actual implementation."
It was also recently revealed by Mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa that the tallest tower in the Symbio-City development will reach 110 storeys and will be flanked by two high-rise buildings of 80 and 60 floors each. The total height of the tallest tower will be 447m — which will make it the tallest building in Africa.
But one of the biggest problems, according to many interested parties — including Org Geldenhuys from property management and development company, Abacus DIVISIONS — is that, in order to be sustainable, landlords would have to charge rent in excess of R200 per square metre.
"This is punitively high," he said. "Who is going to pay rentals as high as this when there are top grade office park developments, such as Highveld Techno Park, which are charging rentals starting at R75 per square metre — and is approximately one kilometre away from the planned Symbio-City site?
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