Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa October 2016 | Page 41

DEVELOPMENT

Newbie on the ‘Blok’

Changing the face of new developments
BY KATE THOMPSON-DUWE

S

ynonymous with celebrating city living,
urban property development brand Blok
has recently celebrated its second birthday.
The idea for the brand was sparked
when Jacques and Lior van Embden, a formidable
husband and wife business team with a shared
passion for design, moved to Sea Point in 2012 and
fell in love with the urban lifestyle offered by the
area. “We started seeing the trend of people looking
to move into the city and other desirable parts of
Cape Town, however no one was making homes in
the sky. We also immediately realised the value of
living a connected urban lifestyle- knowing your
local barrista, recognising neighbours - there’s a
sense of security and familiarity that our parents
used to speak about. Urban lifestyles need not be
cold and unforgiving. We felt that there was a need
for us to create urban homes for the future and an
opportunity arose with us being offered a property
in Sea Point,” shares Jacques van Embden, the
MD & Co-Founder of the company.
From the beginning, they aimed to do business
unusual and set itself apart through its emphasis
on Urban Homes, Urban Living and Design – the
three pillars on which the brand is built.
Van Embden explains: “To many South
Africans, living in urban areas traditionally meant
being confined to a small box with no garden and
limited choice of schools, parking and space. Van
Embden aims to change all of this by creating
beautiful urban homes that are thoughtfully and
intuitively designed by city dwellers, for city
dwellers.”
He continues: “We believe that home doesn’t
stop at the front door and that the comfort of
our apartments should always extend into the
surrounding neighbourhood. We want to be

www.reimag.co.za

a positive contributor to the communities in
which we develop. That’s why we engage with
stakeholders to find opportunities to make
lasting and meaningful changes, ranging from
crime ‘n grime initiatives and greening to urban
interventions.” Urban intervention projects
implemented by Blok include the Thornhill Park
revamp in Greenpoint, the co-creation of the
Parklet on Regent Road, Sea Point with the City
of Cape Town.
“Good design has the power to improve lives.
From our brand to our buildings and their
surrounding communities, we strive to create
design that is as beautiful as it is practical,” adds
Lior van Embden, Blok ’s Sales and Marketing
Manager.
Since inception, nine developments have been
launched, with two handed over to owners late
last year and earlier this year . “We see ourselves
spreading our wings a little bit further into Cape
Town and will be bringing out a few new product
variations that will add something never before
seen to the marketplace.”
Van Embden concludes: “We want to be
consistently contributing positively to the urban
fabric of Cape Town and believe that if we continue
to innovate in terms of urban homes, urban living
and design, we will give a layer and a quality to
Cape Town that is going to take it into the future
in terms of its urban space. We want all of Cape
Town to be uplifted to a world-class, innovative
urban environment which is at the forefront of
what it means to live in an urban African city.Ӥ

RESOURCES
blok
OCTOBER 2016 SA Real Estate Investor

39