AMDEC PROPERTY: Pioneering Spirit Unlocks Global Property Prowess

Ultimately, the Amdec Group exists to bring people together through built environments that pave the way for the formation of thriving business, residential, social or retirement communities, it explains. “The Amdec Group has spent 30 years honing its skills and expertise in order to deliver iconic large-scale developments that transcend the generic and raise the bar for others to follow.

“In so doing, it continuously seeks to address challenges linked to urbanisation, densification, safety, security, mobility, and transport. Our buildings and public spaces foster enjoyment and social interaction, and enhance quality of life.” A shared vision by father and son John and James Wilson of a better way of living, working, interacting, and relaxing was fortified by the belief property provided the key to connecting people and creating thriving community environments.

With John’s civil engineering background and wealth of property development expertise joining Chartered Accountant James’s strategic thinking and leadership, a formidable entrepreneurial spirit has driven exponential growth, built a prestigious portfolio of property assets and engineered a company profile that includes diverse real estate entities throughout South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the USA.

PASSION FOR PEOPLE

Several hallmarks unite the heterogeneous nature of Amdec’s Group developments. Exceptional locations form the backbone, carefully selected on the basis of accessibility, desirability, visibility, and functionality, while the ensuing project will always seek to mitigate the challenges of modern life by bringing people, lifestyle, nature, and the built environment into balance. Safety and security are paramount, and smart technology is deployed to deliver enhanced connectivity, environmental sustainability, and cost efficiency.

“As a founding member of the Green Building Council of South Africa,” the company says, “we have pioneered many sustainable development initiatives including the harnessing of sun light for solar power generation, rainwater harvesting and storage, water recycling, back-up generator power and waste management. We ensure that our built environments are sustainable and energy efficient, all designed and intended to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Above all else, it is the Amdec Group’s unwavering passion for people that continues to set it apart most. “Our buildings and public spaces are designed to bring people from diverse walks of life together and provide them with opportunities for social interaction, community engagement, enjoyment, fulfilment, and financial reward. This is why we adopt a customer-centric approach when conceptualising, designing, constructing, maintaining and continuously managing our built environments.

“We remain invested in our properties long after the real estate is completed and occupied.”

In its earliest years, the Amdec Group’s projects comprised residential renovations and refurbishments in Cape Town’s south peninsula. These grew in scale to enable the company to take on bigger and more complex new builds, including apartment complexes, gated residential communities, commercial office developments, and mixed-use precincts, before branching into commercial developments such as Virgin Active, Westlake Lifestyle Centre, and Steenberg Office Park in Tokai.

Securing a 50% share in the iconic Melrose Arch mixed-use precinct in Johannesburg in 2005 proved a dramatic turning point, adding a flagship property to the portfolio and allowing the Amdec Group to hone its expertise as a leading developer of new urban lifestyles. The credit crunch of the late 2000s sparked a diversification of its assets and expansion nationally and also brought the introduction of Evergreen Lifestyle, a brand that would go on to become South Africa’s premier retirement name. 

AMBITIOUS ADDITIONS

“The Amdec Group has experienced exponential growth in the last 10 years,” it then affirms, perhaps most obviously shown by global expansion with the establishment of offices in London and Atlanta, USA. Its developments and brands embody this progress; Melrose Arch has more than trebled in size, while the Evergreen Lifestyle brand has expanded nationally to include seven completed villages and a further six under construction.

Two multi-billion Rand mixed-use developments – One on Whiteley at Melrose Arch, and The Yacht Club in Cape Town – have been added to the national portfolio, followed by the purchase of Sitari Country Estate outside Somerset West and the acquisition of a 30% stake in the Val de Vie and Pearl Valley luxury lifestyle estates in the Cape Winelands.

In 2017, meanwhile, a R16 billion mixed-use mega-development was launched in the form of Harbour Arch in Cape Town, an ambitious addition to the Cape Town CBD. Last year it was revealed that the first of six towers had ‘topped out’ on the 23rd floor, 95 metres high and just 30 months after breaking ground. With completion due this year, it has taken around three million man hours to reach this point, with tens of thousands of people including builders, technicians, engineers and architects working to bring this iconic landmark to fruition.

“Reaching the highest point of Tower 1 at Harbour Arch represents a significant milestone in our construction journey,” said Nicholas Stopforth, MD of Amdec Property Developments. “Despite an unforeseen delay following the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, work has advanced at pace and is on schedule for completion in May next year. A multi-billion Rand project of this magnitude requires the technical skill, expertise, and dedication of a highly specialized multi-disciplinary team.”

The internationally recognised Sitari Country Estate currently under development by the Amdec Group represents one of the most iconic lifestyle estates in the Helderberg basin, and the wider Cape. Offering a contemporary country lifestyle in beautiful surroundings, these are premium homes giving family-oriented purchasers easy access to a first-rate security-conscious lifestyle estate.

“Today, the Amdec Group is recognised as South Africa’s leading developer of new urban lifestyles, a trusted brand with a proven track record, a large and diversified global real estate business underpinned by a common vision and shared set of core values,” summarises this South African property powerhouse.

“This reputation, along with the iconic developments on which it is based, is founded upon our belief that there is a better way of living, working, relaxing and interacting. Our buildings and public spaces focus on lifestyle, enjoyment and connectivity, helping to build happy communities while also offering energy efficiency, sustainability and convenience.

“The pioneering spirit of our founders lives on in our consistent delivery of ground-breaking projects on a large scale as we aim to inspire better ways of living, working, relaxing and interacting. We design and deliver ambitious developments that reshape the property landscape and focus on quality of life. Consistently diversifying and expanding our portfolio,

 Amdec Group is a proudly South African company which remains invested in, and optimistic about, the future of our country and seek to play our part in securing a better future for all.”