Located in Boksburg, Johannesburg, an urban lifestyle estate captures the true spirit of African urban living.
PROJECTS
The estate features a model that is for the locals by the locals.
One-of-a-kind features for urban African living
Located in Boksburg, Johannesburg, an urban lifestyle estate captures the true spirit of African urban living.
By Ntsako Khosa | Photos by Similan
The estate was developed by Similan Properties in partnership with Old Mutual and sits on a land mass of about 21 hectares. The entire project is made up of 1 100 units divided between three separate estates, Urbika Apartments, Urbika Lake Village and Urbika Parks. The village has 259 homes made up of free-standing houses and townhouses that will be sold to the open market, ranging from R650 000 to R1.7-million.
DEFINING THE MODEL
Similan challenges the status quo of affordable housing, this time further pushing design boundaries to now specifically address the management of the rental units.
“ We are incredibly proud of our team’ s ability to provide a holistic, mobile solution to manage the tedious challenges that complicates rental management. We can’ t wait to introduce it to both our tenants and future landlords,” says Similan founder, Harold Spies. He explains that they’ ve invested time and effort not only in the physical design of the estate, but also in how they will enable the tenants to manage their living expenses in a way that will, in the long run, empower them to build a clean credit record.
“ Of course, in this lies a huge benefit to the investors of the apartments, as they have better control of the rental collection,” he continues.“ Our rental utilities technology is, to our knowledge, a one-of-a-kind for the industry.”
FOR THE RESIDENTS
Urbika Urban Lifestyle Estate is designed for South Africans, by South Africans who understand the Emerging Middle-Class( EMC) Market.
“ When developing homes and apartments for the EMC group we have different needs to consider. From single mothers who prioritise the safety of their children, to young professionals looking for internet connectivity and access to transport nodes. Then we have an older, more settled group looking for safety and community values,
30
MARCH- APRIL 2018
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING