THE City of Windhoek is expected to net about N$18 million from the sale of 41 hectares of land in the Goreangab area in Katutura.
The land will be used to develop the Goreangab Waterfront at a cost of N$721 million.The developer is expected to build 1 100 affordable housing units and based on the provisional estimates submitted to the council, single residential units will be sold at N$480 000 while sectional-title units will cost N$450 000. At its last meeting of 2011, the City of Windhoek’s management committee recommended that council approve the five-year project that is projected to create about 2 840 temporary and 540 permanent and contract jobs.The approval will pave the way for Green Building Construction to buy a portion of Erf 3188 in Goreangab which has a size of 40,92 hectares. The total size of erf 3188 is 92,2 hectares, excluding the Penduka project and the municipal braai spots along the Goreangab Dam.Green Building Construction is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sakawe Mining Corporation (Samicor), which is 76 per cent owned by the Lev Leviev Group of Companies.Namibian mining company Longlife Mining owns 10% of Samicor, while the Namibian Government owns eight per cent, the National Youth Service two per cent and Samicor employees a four per cent stake.The City Council provisionally approved the project in 2009 on condition that the waterfront and residential components of the development should be on a 70:30 ratio and that a proper environmental impact assessment be conducted.’The applicant subsequently demonstrated that it is not feasible to have a waterfront component of 33,6 hectares, since the Windhoek population is not big enough to support such a large shopping centre and the size of such a large shopping centre may have a negative impact on the central business district,’ the minutes of the last council meeting of 2011 state.The council’s management committee recommended changing the ratio to 80 326 square metres of commercial property and 254 179 square metres for the residential area.The management committee further recommended that 4 148 square metres should be allocated to institutional development and 29 074 square metres for public open spacesThe project will require ministerial approval and will be completed in six phases over a five-year period.
