Hong Kong-listed property development group Shanghai Zendai has outlined ambitious plans for the development of an R84-billion 22-km2 “city” on the Modderfontein property bought from AECI for R1-billion in November 2013.
Zendai Modderfontein, funded by Zendai Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank, would house 100 000 residents, and employ 200 000 more when completed in 2024. It would be ecofriendly and low-carbon and would include finance, trade, logistics, commerce, exhibition, manufacturing, education, healthcare and housing. An on-site university was scheduled for completion in 2015.
Covering a floor area of 12-million square metres, it would be 20 km from the Johannesburg city centre, 7 km away from Sandton and 8 km from OR Tambo International Airport. A Gautrain station would link the project to other financial hubs and transport networks.
Shanghai Zendai founder and chairperson Zikhang Dai said “We did not realise there was such a vast tract of [undeveloped] land within [Ekurhuleni]. This land has been asleep for over 100 years, but today it is awakened and will become a future city.
“We have made this investment because we have confidence in this country and this land.”
By: Natalie Greve
Read more at: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/chinese-outline-plans-for-mammoth-r84bn-modderfontein-city-2014-04-09/rep_id:3182
