Massive uptake for plots at Francistown�s new estate
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Wednesday March 29, 2017 18:00
Owned by Modern Ventures (Pty) Ltd, the Northern Gateway City is a 945 hectare integrated estate comprising residential, commercial and industrial plots.
Speaking at the launch of the new estate recently, owner of Belshane Auctions as well as the sales agent for the plots, Olebeng Ngwakwena said over 300 hectares of land at the estate have so far been purchased by different stakeholders.
The suburb has over 3,735 plots including 180 civic and community plots, 420 housing town houses, 450 low density plots of over 800 per square metre, 475 medium density of 600 to 800 per square metre.
In addition, the estate is made up of 490 high-density plots fewer than 600 per square metre, 410 mixed land use plots, 410 commercial plots and 250 industrial plots.
Addressing different stakeholders during the recent launch, Ngwakwena said different companies have reserved plots for various uses. He also said some of the investors have expressed interest in purchasing land from the estate.
He added that so far Apex, a leading property development company, has purchased 250 hectares in both block A and B while Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) has made an offer to purchase 36 hectares. Another property company, Turnstar Holdings has acquired 22 hectares of land. Ngwakwena further said fuel service stations such as Puma Energy, Engen and Shell have shown interest in buying a portion of land at the estate. “We also have a hospital group, which is interested in purchasing four hectares of land and a hotel group, which also wants to buy four hectares of land,” he said.
He added that some of the potential buyers who are interested in purchasing land at the newly commissioned suburb include international private companies and retail outlets such as Shoprite and Choppies.
Ngwakwena also credited the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) for fully funding the development of the estate at P300 million. The funding is part of the 20% shareholding in the project accorded to BDC.
He appealed to trade unions, property asset managers and pension funds such as the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) and other organisations to purchase plots for their members. It will have coordinated hierarchical commercial clusters, working areas in office and industrial parks, community services, recreational and sporting facilities and hotels along with lodges.
The provision of services at Northern Gateway City is expected to cost over P1 billion.
Ngwakwena did not reveal the total amount of purchased plots, but he said the servicing of the land for phase one of the project is estimated to cost around P150 million.
For her part the Northern Gateway City sales executive officer, Dikeledi Fidzani said their mandate is to develop a glittering estate to stimulate the city of Francistown.