Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Housing project to create a lifestyle haven
New phase launched at Scottsdene affordable housing development in Kraaifontein
CALGRO M3, a Gauteng-based property development company that has built more than 40 000 houses in 18 years, recently announced that it is releasing the next phase of the Scottsdene affordable housing development in Kraaifontein.
The North Pine Meadow phase is part of the larger integrated Scottsdene development, which consists of various pockets of housing from RDP to social housing and bonded stock. Scottsdene is just off the Old Paarl Road (R101) and is bounded by Botfontein Road (M15).
“The integration of the different types of housing is important as it follows the national government directive to create lifestyle havens for families and not just build housing projects,” says Charl Cornelissen, divisional marketing director at Calgro M3.
“This type of development is designed to create opportunities for people to upgrade their lives. They can start in RDP units and can eventually move to bonded units, which will then help them to create wealth.”
When complete, the Scottsdene project will have 2 200 units in all, consisting of 1 100 gap, social housing and rental units, 340 community residential units which are subsidised rental units owned by the City of Cape Town, 550 subsidised RDP/ BNG ( breaking new ground) units and 210 freehold affordable houses.
Scottsdene is Calgro M3’s first integrated development project outside of Gauteng. The f our- year- old R554 million project was awarded by the City of Cape Town in November 2010 and Calgro M3 expects it to be completed in early 2015.
“The bonded units here are split into sectional title units and free- standing freehold homes, although the bulk of these will be sectional title units to densify areas and not contribute to an urban sprawl”, says Cornelissen.
“This type of development must be done in such a way that the banks will find value to grant bonds and the residents maintain pride in their units. Security is of utmost importance, as this normalises residents’ lives and keeps out the elements that they are trying to get away from.”
Calgro’s other objective is to train the Scottsdene property owners how to run the body corporate and a managing agent is employed to manage the scheme.
“The sectional title owners could choose whether to have lower levies without security or a higher levy with 24-hour security. It’s interesting that they opted for the higher fee, because of the strong need to move away from the effects of crime.”
North Pine Meadow is a freehold phase with 81 units, in three sizes – 43m², 52m² and 70m² (which has a garage). The larger units will be semidetached, double-storey units with two bedrooms and one full bathroom with a guest toilet downstairs.
The units will be priced from R390 000 with optional extras available to upgrade. Buyers of homes in this price bracket need to earn more than R12 000 a month, but no deposits are required.
“Calgro M3 develops on such a large scale that it needs full control and consistency in the systems used to manage the developments, and this is where RED- i’s ( Real Estate Development Interactive) SIMS ( Sales information Management System) has helped tremendously.
“We use various agents to sell units across all our developments and SIMS makes information available online in real time so that everyone involved is kept informed. Calgro M3 administrators go through leads and vet buyers to see if they qualify for finance, use the SIMS system, and then pass information from one division to the next. The Notes communication system allows direct and immediate communication between all the staff involved,” says Cornelissen.
“With the accurate up-todate data we can arrange meetings with banks or stakeholders and confidently give accurate feedback on sales and financial aspects.
“This creates a faster cash conversion cycle because time is not spent unnecessarily wading through data and reports. The agents working on our developments have now embraced SIMS as their income-earning potential has increased by expending energy on the correct deals and areas rather than following up on redundant information.”
“Calgro M3 is a fairly large company and all the various divisions are kept in the loop via SIMS on financial, legal, bond origination and other transaction data online. This, in turn, saves time and costs and creates a seamless, efficient system.
“As with all affordable housing developments, costs need to be kept under tight control, to be able to provide the products at the correct prices. Savings in one area translate to savings in other areas and because we operate a turnkey development company, with our own architects, surveyors, and other building professionals, savings in all areas helps down the line to provide decent housing at affordable prices,” says Cornelissen.
Call Charl Cornelissen on 011 300 7500 or e-mail charl@calgrom3.com