Coenie Bezuidenhout has been with Atterbury since 2003 and has been responsible for the Johannesburg region since 2005. Key developments he has been involved in include Newtown Junction and Waterfall.

What learnings do you have from being involved in the Waterfall project?
Waterfall was developed from scratch and competes with established nodes such as Sandton, Rosebank and Midrand. Convincing potential tenants to relocate to new premises in Waterfall while there was virtually nothing there but open veld, really required out-of-the-box thinking and deal-making!

Timing was always of the essence as land-holding costs for large-scale projects such as Waterfall becomes a burden on investment expectations. We had to create a model to deliver top-structure buildings way ahead of schedule. For instance, we started with bulk earthworks at the Mall of Africa two-and-a-half years ahead of what was originally planned. The demand was also to create and offer the right product to penetrate a tough market, which we had to bear in mind as the developer.

Over a period of five years we managed to deliver a complex project in a nearly stagnant economic cycle, within a difficult regulatory environment, unstable political conditions and established competition and we did it in record time. This was a learning curve of note!

How do you go about building a new city?
The selection and assembling of the right professional team was an absolute necessity as was the ongoing hands-on management and continuous coordination of all the various disciplines. As usual, it takes hard work, continued effort and relentless focus to yield success.

The upfront planning and layout of the city took almost three years and had to be right as any mistake would have a major impact not only in the short term but over the long term, affecting the longevity of the city as a whole.

The key success driver was to develop and create a city, comprising buildings, infrastructure and amenities that fulfil a need in people and that the market responds to positively.

What has been a highlight for you?
There were many, but mainly it was the small things that I consider to be highlights, purely because of the level of involvement in the detail. The day that we got the Water Use License for Land Parcel 22 was particularly memorable as we’d already started construction of the MBT facility.

What was also quite rewarding was how everyone involved  – not only the Atterbury staff – took pride in being involved in Waterfall and enjoyed being part of the process.

What could you have done without?
There’s always bureaucratic red tape that one can do without.

What developments are you currently involved in?
Old Mint Park in Centurion (industrial), Randport in Germiston (industrial), Newtown in Jhb CBD (mixed use), Rosebank (office), Precinct 14 in Constantia (office/retail/hotel), Richmond Park in Cape Town (industrial/retail/motor) and Waterfall (head office for potential corporate tenant).

Since 2015 around 375 000m2 GLA of new retail, office and industrial space has been secured across Gauteng (not counting Waterfall). Some of these transactions are joint ventures and others are earmarked for the Atterbury Property Fund.

What excites you about them?
I find the structuring of deals and conceptualisation of new developments exciting.
All projects offer their own challenges and require unique thinking and skill to make them happen.

To single out a specific one – Newtown has always been a great project to be involved in and the next phase of the development that we are currently planning looks very promising.

What can we expect in the next year?
Potentially there is a very exciting project on the cards in the Johannesburg CBD as well as a prominent land acquisition in Cape Town.