Estate Living Magazine Estate Living Issue 29 May | Page 8

Somerset
Lakes Estate
Approximately 30 minutes from Cape Town, Somerset West
has long nestled quietly under the Helderberg Mountains and
under the radar of property buyers. This little-known gem is
rapidly attracting a new cohort of buyers, in both the residential
and investment markets. One of the newer and more attractive
developments taking advantage of the Somerset West boom is
Somerset Lakes.
Consisting of 67 hectares of former farmland, this active
lifestyle estate combines the best of outdoor living with security
and convenience. Extensive stands of stone pines were left to
create a forest feel, and a storm water retention pond was re-
sculpted and repurposed into the picturesque six-hectare lake
that lies at the heart of the estate.
These natural elements are crucial to the lifestyle element; there
are biking and running trails, an outdoor gym area, a foefie slide
and kid’s adventure zone in the forest, and the lake is a non-
motorised watersports paradise. Kayaking, supping, fishing
and sailing are very popular, and kids just love mucking about
feeding the ducks, looking at birds and other aquatic life. The
regular pilates and yoga sessions outdoors – usually in the
forest – contribute to, and complement, the overall serenity.
The development was started in 2011 as a partnership
between Investec Private Bank, Wiehahn Properties and
Omnigro (Pty) Ltd. The initial intention was to build quite high
density units but, even before construction started, it seemed
that the market would be more receptive to a greater mix, and to
larger, higher-value homes. The developers therefore, decided
to do apartments for Phase One, townhouses for Phase Two,
townhouses for Phase Two, and freestanding homes for Phase
Three, thereby taking advantage of the natural price sensitivity
of the different home styles.
Right at the beginning, there was no landscaping in place and
not much to actually see, but by using a bit of imagination, more
8 | www.estate-living.com
Somerset West has long
nestled quietly under
the Helderberg
Mountains –
and under the
radar of
property
buyers.
price-sensitive buyers could reap the financial advantage of
buying on faith and have seen fantastic returns for doing so.
Phase One was Brookdale, which comprises 114 luxury
apartments. Selling off-plan, it sold out in six weeks, and
occupation was in August 2015. Construction of the clubhouse
started along with Phase Two, Waterford Green, which consists
of 46 freestanding, double-storey townhouses. This proved to
be very popular and units that where sold off- plan are now
reselling at about a 20 -25% premium or garnering nett rentals
of about 8.5% per annum. Phase Three, Heron’s Rest, consists
of 42 freestanding three-bedroomed homes ranging in size
from 212m² to 390m².