Developers FWJK expects construction on Cape Town’s new tallest building to begin soon.

Zero 2 One Tower, at 44 storeys, will comprise 570 apartments and 7,000 sqm of retail shops on ground level and station concourse level.

The Zero-2-One Tower first made headlines in 2016, when plans to construct the R1.3 billion city centre project on the corner of Adderley and Strand Streets in Cape Town were unveiled.

During the course of the planning for the tower, the project was hit by several delays, mostly related to the approval processes of the City of Cape Town, which included stipulations that new developments include ‘affordable housing’ – an incredibly difficult task in a city with some of the highest house and apartment prices in the country.

However, the project has now secured foreign backing according to FWJK CEO David Williams-Jones, who said that the project is targeting a construction launch within the next few months – pending approvals from the Reserve Bank.

“Once the SA Reserve Bank approval of the foreign funding has been processed, we are targeting to commence construction works on site within the next three to four months, bringing with it the added benefit of 3,000 new on and off-site jobs being created,” he said.

Johannesburg

The Leonardo – which has steadily been rising above the Sandton skyline over the past two years – is set to become the tallest building in South Africa.

Speaking in January, Legacy Group CEO Bart Dorrestein said that the group made a conscious choice not to broadcast the plan to make the tallest building in the country, instead letting the tower speak for itself.

However, he confirmed that the decision was taken in September 2018 to push beyond the original proposal of 50 floors, with the final build height now expected to reach 230 metres, and a value of R3 billion.

Initial design documents for the R2 billion skyscraper put the planned height of the building at 150 metres, with 42 floors. However, in March 2018, documents showed a phase development of 47 floors, with the building said to extend beyond 180 metres.

The Leonardo is a mixed-use development that will offer luxury residential units in the form of apartments and penthouse suites, as well as over 15,000 square metres of premium office space.

Durban

Completed in 2008, the Pearl Dawn is currently the tallest building in Durban.

Located in Umhlanga, the 152 metre, 31-storey building is also one of the tallest hotels in South Africa, offering luxury apartments and penthouses.

The Pearls also has an attached shopping mall with a number of restaurants and retail outlets.

A number of projects have promised to surpass The Pearls in height but none have been able to get off the ground.

In 2016 the city received an ambitious proposal to build a R6 billion 88-story skyscraper near the Moses Mabhida stadium, which would have made it the tallest building in the southern hemisphere at the time.

Read: Foreign investment secured to build the new tallest building in Cape Town