From EP Herald
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A LARGE commercial and residential property development resulting in an investment estimated at R500-million is set to transform Port Elizabeth‘s Arlington racecourse into a “boutique” development – a first for South Africa.
About 180 up-market houses and an office block complex will be developed on the course.
As part of the development, Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Ltd, a JSE-listed company, has relocated the Arlington stabling and training facilities to the Fairview racecourse, where 240 new stables along with additional training tracks and related facilities have been built.
National property development manager Mike Rishworth said: “The old Arlington stables were in need of an upgrade, but we took a decision that rather than upgrade them, we would build a new state-of-the-art stabling complex at Fairview, thereby having all the Eastern Cape stabling and training facilities at one venue.
“The relocation of the horses was also necessary to make space for the property development. Most of the stables at Arlington are being destroyed as we speak, to make way for the development.”
However, he emphasised that Arlington racecourse was not closing down. “Racing will continue at Arlington and all the facilities will be upgraded dramatically.”
Rishworth said all the necessary approvals for the development had already been obtained from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and the Eastern Cape provincial government. A decision on when the plots would go on sale would be made soon.
The company, Rishworth said, would not build the houses at Arlington, but would put up the necessary infrastructure and services, and then sell the plots.
He could not confirm how much the plots would sell for, but said their sizes varied from 600m² to 1100m².
“As far as the commercial side of it is concerned, we are envisaging an office block or two, with panoramic views of the course. The development is unique, with two-thirds of the property remaining public open space. I haven‘t seen anything like it in South Africa or elsewhere in the world.”
Rishworth said the racing industry was booming in the Eastern Cape.
“There is a much greater demand for stables than what we have right now. There are about 150 horses stabled off the course because of the lack of space at the Fairview training centre,” he said, adding that the company had spent about R30-million on upgrading the stables and training tracks at Fairview.
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