Steyn City, Midrand

Steyn City at a glance

Steyn City Parkland Residence

A new and exciting urban city will soon illuminate the Johannesburg skyline. Located on 2000 acres of previously unused quarry land, just north of Fourways, Steyn City promises to be a metropolitan resort offering the best estate lifestyle with a unique concept and entirely unlike existing residential estates and gated communities in South Africa.

Insurance and business tycoon, Douw Steyn and property developer Giuseppe Plumari have combined their talent and vision of building a city within a city with the family at its core. Reminiscent of traditional community centred, pedestrian-zoned towns, residents of Steyn City Estate can do away with their motor vehicle and instead enjoy living in a quality, upmarket space where amenities are always in walking distance, children can play freely and concerns about traffic and crime are put on the back burner.

Bringing new meaning to the term mixed use, Steyn City will offer residents a range of facilities on a level never seen before in a South African estate environment. Upon completion, residents will be able to make use of an onsite petrol station, delicatessen and numerous coffee shops whilst outdoor gym stations, soccer pitches, swimming pools, tennis and squash courts, Skate Park and an equestrian centre provide ample activity. Rolling parkland with fishing lakes, 60kms of off-road mountain bike track, kilometres of running route and a 15km pedestrian boulevard conclude the recreational amenities whilst a fossil park, owl houses, a retirement village, a hospital and school on the perimeter of the resort will mean that residents will truly have all their needs met within a safe walking distance.

Entirely unique to Steyn City, developers of the R6 billion, two phase development waited for the entire infrastructure to first be completed before stands or homes started selling in March of this year. This means that potential property buyers do not buy an intangible dream or artist's impression, but a visible lifestyle. This approach has also benefited the local economy with the generation of over 11500 employment opportunities for locals from the Diepsloot and Cosmo City areas and anticipated job creation is expected to increase as the development continues to grow.

The developers have not limited infrastructure enhancement to just within Steyn City. Bigen Africa has been appointed too provide professional services specifically related to the internal and external civil services for the entire development. Upon completion, the bulk sewer upgrades will enable the decommissioning of the existing Beverley and Dainfern pump stations which were designed to collect the ultimate sewer flows from the Jukskei Outfall basin. The pump station will also include an emergency storage dam whilst a new 30 Mega litre bulk water reservoir will supply water to not only the Steyn City development, but also to Dainfern, Dainfern Valley, Dainfern Ridge and parts of Diepsloot.

A staggering R 900 million road upgrade, of which Steyn City contributed to, has already vastly improved the road network and traffic flow. The main road linking William Nicol Drive and Cedar Road will be a 4-lane road with additional cycle lanes on both sides and an underpass will allow pedestrians, golf carts and cyclists to cross underneath the main 4-lane roads. The resort is within a 15 minute drive from Lanseria airport and a planned airport shuttle will provide an alternative transfer option for business travellers and young executives on the go. All services by Bigen Africa were not only required to be technically sound but also authentically pleasing, of the highest quality and sustainable. Treated water from the Johannesburg Northern outfall works has been designed and incorporated as part of the various ponds and irrigation storage in the development to ensure that facilities form part of the natural landscape and feel of the development.

One of the first facilities to be finished at the resort is the perfectly manicured Nicklaus Design 18-hole golf course built & maintained by Golf Data (who also delivered the estate's landscaping) which promises a fair game of golf for keen players and novices alike. The golf club features the magnificent award winning now-you-see-it-now-you-don't clubhouse designed by architects Wessel van Dyk and Jean Grobler. The developers wanted the design of the golf course and clubhouse to reflect that this is just one of a plethora of leisure activities available at Steyn City. The inviting fairways of rye and fescue grass are reminiscent of a plush carpet and although this golf course will eventually be for members and invited guests only; the golf course was opened to the general public from 1 April this year. The initial brief to make the golf course as user-friendly as possible for the average handicapped golfer ensures a social game with emphasis on shot value. However, the course also caters for the professional and single handicapped golfer with just over 7000m of play area from the back trees. With each hole boasting its own unique features ensuring a unique playing experience on each, different high points to tee off from and generous buffer zones between fairways and homes, this course promises some great golf in years to come. As Ken Payet, The Club and course's General Manager sums up;

"We tried to make this a fun course through its design".

Douw Steyn's extravagant home was designed by Wynand du Plessis and built in the early stages of the development. The 3000m² home is estimated to be worth R 250 million and is the habitual base for the retired businessman and his philanthropic wife. The enthusiastic art lovers' artistic thread continues throughout the development with renowned South African artist, Charles Gotthard, tasked with generating creative spaces and utilising the talents of a number of local artists from the communities within the area of Steyn City. The stunning modern landscapes and wooded parklands have been created by Patrick Watson, who also designed the gardens at The Lost City at Sun City. Watson created the biggest urban playground South Africa has ever seen. The numerous play areas include a Skate Park, zip line, scaled sandpits and the most up to date play obstacles - a true children's paradise. A City Centre Hub development is currently under construction and at 250 000m² in size, this alone is as big as the Melrose Arch development. Home to 740 apartments, a gym, a piazza, restaurants, retail stores and a basement with parking for 2000 vehicles; this 8 hectare commercial space is expected to be completed in 2018 and will provide even greater investment opportunities.

Those in the market to purchase a home here have three different residential options available. All homes adhere to green principles and in keeping with the global trend of apartment living, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments will be available in the picturesque villages across the resort. These villages will be surrounded by lush parkland and landscaped gardens. An apartment of this kind will retail from R 1.65 million - R 3.9 million with floor sizes varying between 74m² and 149m². Investors can expect a rental return of around R 10 000 per month for a 1 bedroom unit. A furnished 2 bedroom apartment, such as the one that won in the FourD competition on SABC3, is available for rent for R 25 000 per month. Cluster homes will sell between R 6.2 million - R 8.4 million for a 350m² sized luster on 400m² to 600m² of land. This style of living mirrors the global trend of young professionals now desiring hassle free and mobile living yet wanting to remain safe and maintain minimum upkeep costs. Finally, 220 of an overall 850 full title stands are now available for sale via a joint mandate between Pam Golding Properties and Steyn City Properties and prices range from R 2.3 million to R 16 million for a 1300m² to 4000m² home. Onsite show homes boast indoor living that seamlessly expands onto the rolling hills and incredible outdoor views. Interiors of the fully furnished show homes of 800m² to 900m² are decorated by Stephen Falcke, and are retailing for between R 16 million - R 22 million.

An estate of this size needs to be sustainable and the developers have been keen to create an environmentally friendly footprint from the get go. Indigenous trees including wild olive, river bush willow and white stinkwood are home grown in an on-site nursery and a 1000 of these are being planted each day. Security at the resort is of world class quality and includes CCTV surveillance, advanced video analytics, intrusion detection technology on the perimeter fence, a nerve centre with state of the art equipment in the control room, Integrated Biometric, RFID tag and License Plate Recognition (LPR), access control technology and advanced resident, visitor and contractor management systems, ensuring the safest possible environment to live and work in.

A top quality Fibre-to-the-Home network that is far superior to copper cable networks will ensure each home is connected to Wi-Fi across Steyn City. Residents will still be able to choose their data service providers and the infrastructure will support 'triple-play' services for all platforms including voice, internet and television which can all be transmitted on a single fibre cable. Wi-Fi hotspots will be located at strategic points throughout the resort and a web based portal will provide residents with all the information they need to know; from personalised utility billing to internet usage statistics as well as allowing for communication with staff and management. Renewable energy is essential with piped gas being offered to residents as an alternative power source as well as solar energy options, energy efficient lighting schemes using low energy LED lamps and backup electricity generators.

It is difficult to appreciate the full scope of the vision behind Steyn City without physically being on site. When fully developed, Steyn City will be 6 times the size of Sandton's city centre, 4 times the size of the city of Monaco and 2½ times the size of New York's Central Park and will provide 8 000 dwellings for approximately 20 000 residents, you are left feeling a little breathless and entirely overwhelmed by the sheer immensity.

Judging by the size and quality of the investment to date the developers are right on track in bringing their vision of a metropolitan resort offering a lifestyle choice for likeminded individuals that want contemporary living but with old school values.

At Malherbex Property Group we endeavour to give you the most holistic real estate and property buying and selling advice. Contact us today to speak to one of our area specialists at 011-786-9364.