The Sun King shines again
OUT OF RETIREMENT: SOL KERZNER OVERSEES TOP-BRACKET CAPE DEVELOPMENT
Legendary entrepreneur, 82, thinks SA’s fortunes will turn around again. Moneyweb
There is “no doubt that South Africa still has a lot of opportunities and faces many challenges. I think in the long term, the country’s political and economic fortunes will turn around.”
This is how Sol Kerzner, a man whose hotel and resort career spans over 40 years, has described South Africa’s state of the nation as he embarks on a career comeback.
The 82-year-old – widely known as the Sun King for developing North West leisure resort Sun City in 1979 and a throng of One & Only Resorts in 2002 – is carving out a career in residential property.
Kerzner, together with his eldest daughter, Andrea, is developing a luxury residential estate on the slopes of his family property in Leeukoppie, which is one of Cape Town’s most exclusive suburbs.
It was only three years ago that Kerzner retired as chairperson of Kerzner International Holdings, following the purchase of a significant stake by Investment Corporation of Dubai in his company.
He has come out of retirement to oversee the R1 billion residential project called Kerzner Estate.
He sees the investment as a vote of confidence in South Africa at a time when some investors have taken a leap out of country.
You don’t have to look far for reasons behind this: increasing political uncertainty, rising taxes for ultra-high net worth individuals to plug declining tax revenues, weak economic growth and populist policy proposals, including expropriation of land without compensation.
However, the Johannesburg-born Kerzner is unfazed.
“I think South Africa is still an exciting country.
“We, as the Kerzner family, are certainly committed to the country,” he said in an interview with Moneyweb.
The 10ha estate was bought by Kerzner for R2.25 million in 1983. In today’s terms, R2.25 million probably wouldn’t purchase an apartment in Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard suburbs, including Bantry Bay, Fresnaye, Clifton and Sea Point. Kerzner doesn’t spend much time in South Africa as he is mostly in London. When visiting South Africa, he’s often at the Leeukoppie estate.
“We have built five houses for members of the family. It’s an estate that I have shared with my family and friends since 1983,” he said.
His daughter is running the planning of the estate, which boasts 48 luxury houses built by six architects. Developers and architects began breaking ground on the project more than two years ago.
“There is an appetite for this kind of offering. The trend is still towards secure lifestyle estates as people are consolidating and don’t want large houses,” said Andrea.
Prices for the three-, fourand five-bedrooms houses, which range between 374m2 and 738m2 on stands of 1 500 m2, start from R20.5 million (including VAT). This is in line with trophy homes on the Atlantic seaboard.
The residential estate was officially launched on Tuesday and the first release of homes is expected to be in the next 18 months.
The timing of estate’s launch might be questionable. Industry players are reporting slower sales in Cape Town’s luxury property market due to the city’s water shortages, which has prompted buyers to halt their purchases.
House price growth has also been impacted on by the water crunch.
Although Cape Town house prices are still beating inflation, they slowed to 9.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017 from highs of 15% in the first quarter of 2016, according to figures from Standard Bank Group.
Ross Levin, Seeff Atlantic seaboard and City Bowl developments director, who is also responsible for marketing the Kerzner Estate, said the water crisis was a concern but there was still interest from local and international buyers.