Providing capital growth fund Attacq with a 15-year project pipeline, the Waterfall City mixed-use development, in Midrand, has attracted a suite of corporates looking to consolidate their satellite centres into a single Gauteng foothold.

Companies such as Massmart, PwC, Novartis, Cummins, Schneider, Cipla, Honda, Cell C, Group Five, Premier Foods, Covidien, Westcon, Altech and Servest have already committed to establishing – or established – their head offices in the 2 200 ha estate.

Attacq CEO Morné Wilken told journalists during a recent tour of the development on that the fund aimed to develop an integrated, mixed-use development rather than encourage the construction of independent, standalone business headquarters.

“Some impressive buildings have already been completed in Waterfall City while others are making rapid progress. However, our goal at Waterfall is more than the development of standalone buildings . . . we want to build a world-class city that incorporates [overarching] urban design and planning,” he commented.

According to Wilken, companies relocating to the development cited its high visibility, central location, infrastructure and advanced architecture as key drivers of their decision.

Others pointed to the development’s location, which they felt provided a convenient springboard between Gauteng metropoles Johannesburg and Pretoria, as well as the existence of the free-flowing Allandale offramp off the N1 highway, which mitigated traffic congestion challenges seen around other mixed-use developments.

Waterfall City will be anchored by the 131 000 m2 Mall of Africa, which is due to open in April next year.

“The Waterfall City development, as well as the commercial jewel in the crown, Mall of Africa, is well on track and we look forward to the mall opening in 40 weeks [offering] prestigious brands,” said Wilken.

Elaborating on its portfolio of corporate tenants, Attacq outlined that the Maxwell Office Park development, which was located to the south of the Mall of Africa, would boast tenants such as quantity surveyors (QS) Pentad QS, office workplace specialist Flexible Workspace, miner Northam Platinum and engineering, procurement and construction service provider Black & Veatch.

Professional services firm PwC’s nearby 26-storey tower will, meanwhile, become the first high-rise building in the precinct, offering 40 000 m2 of modern offices designed to house 3 500 PwC employees.

Earthworks for the tower, which was designed by LYT Architecture, has already started and the construction of the project, scheduled for completion early in 2018, is expected to take 36 months.

“The height of the new PwC tower and the fact that it is situated on a high point in Waterfall City will make it the tallest structure on the corridor between the Sandton and Pretoria central business districts. It will [also] be visible from almost anywhere within a 30 km radius,” Wilken noted.

Already firmly established along the southern boundary of the development, telecom- munications provider Cell C’s 46 000 m² head office campus, which was completed in 2013, boasts a customer walk-in centre, data and information technology centre, warehouse facilities and an additional 14 000 m² office space.

Also already established within the development, global healthcare provider Covidien moved into its new head office and distribution centre in December, joining counterpart Novartis South Africa, which opened its premises in June.

Additional corporate clients include US-based Fortune 500 company Stryker, which will establish itself in the Waterfall Logistics Precinct in October and global power group Cummins, which is set to open its 22 280 m²
premises in Waterfall City in June.

Waterfall City is, meanwhile, advancing construction of the 115.8 m Bridal Veil bridge across the N1 highway, which is situated south of the Allandale interchange and north of the Buccleuch interchange, and will create a direct link between Midrand and Waterfall City.

The superstructure of the bridge will carry four lanes of traffic – two in each direction – a pedestrian walkway, a cycle track and a raised centre median, resulting in a width of 22.7 m.

“The development is being undertaken in strategic phases to reduce disruption to traffic on the N1, while the overpass bridge is being constructed . . . and is scheduled to be completed on time for the launch of the Mall of Africa next year,” Wilken said.