West Africa’s rich eye skyscraper
Africa’s tallest building is set to open in October as its developers seek to cash in on security fears and traffic jams by building a high-rise residential and retail complex in the heart of Sandton’s central business district.
Africa’s tallest building is set to open in October as its developers seek to cash in on security fears and traffic jams by building a high-rise residential and retail complex in the heart of Sandton’s central business fistrict.
The Leonardo is a 234m skyscraper within walking distance of the JSE, the headquarters of some of Africa’s and SA’s biggest companies and the iconic Sandton City mall complex. Developed by Legacy Group and Nedbank, it will house 254 apartments, a three-floor penthouse, and five floors of office space as well as shops, restaurants, a gym and a herb garden.
While Johannesburg’s rundown city centre is notorious for its high crime rate, the relatively safe Sandton has undergone huge change in recent years to become a showcase for ultramodern high-rises and glassfronted office structures.
Developers are now increasingly looking to build residential space in the area, marking a shift from the more common living arrangements in SA. Johannesburg’s affluent class typically lives in large, free-standing houses with rolling gardens and swimming pools behind walls with electric fences.
Still, with in-house restaurants, a Montessori preschool facility and room service, the Leonardo is likely to be more luxurious than most residential buildings in Sandton.
“These things tend to be islands in quite a big market so they tend to be successful,” said Peet Strauss, Johannesburg developments sales manager at Pam Golding Properties. “At the top end, we are dependent on purchases from north of our border — buyers from elsewhere in Africa who have children in university” for instance.
The R3bn building is the latest development by Legacy, which operates 23 hotels and luxury residential complexes across Africa. Its properties range from the Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton to Hôtel Le Cristal in Gabon and Labadi Beach Hotel in Ghana.
Adrian Landry, GM of the Leonardo, declined to give a price for an apartment or to disclose how many have been sold. At the nearby Embassy Towers, a 12-floor development, twobedroom apartments start at R7.2m. Landry did say that the penthouse, which will be custom-designed by the prospective owner and have space for six bedrooms, has attracted interest from both local and West African buyers.
On a clear day, it is possible to see aircraft taking off from OR Tambo International Airport 30km away, as well as the Magaliesberg mountain range.
More than half the apartments are available on a buy-torent basis, with the building also serving as a hotel with one-bedroom apartments costing R7,250 a night or R54,000 a month — more than 15 times the average monthly wage of a low-skilled worker.
Designed by Johannesburg’s Co-Arc International Architects, the Leonardo supersedes the Carlton Centre as the tallest building on the continent. The 222m Carlton Centre in the Johannesburg city centre opened in 1972 as a hotel owned by Anglo American and now serves as the headquarters of Transnet.
Of Africa’s 10 tallest buildings, four are in Johannesburg, three in Dar es Salaam, two in Nairobi and one in Lagos. Construction of the 314m Pinnacle Tower in Nairobi has stalled. / Bloomberg
AT THE TOP END, WE DEPEND ON BUYERS FROM NORTH OF OUR BORDER — WHO HAVE CHILDREN IN UNIVERSITY, FOR INSTANCE
THE BUILDING ALSO SERVES AS A HOTEL WITH APARTMENTS COSTING MORE THAN 15 TIMES THE AVERAGE WAGE OF A LOW-SKILL WORKER