Property investor and developer Atterbury is building premises for two new motor dealerships in the Johannesburg city basin – Joburg City Auto BMW and Joburg City Auto Ford.

These showrooms and service facilities, set to open on July 1 next year, are being developed on the northern edge of Newtown, across the railway lines from Braamfontein.

This R170-million development, built for the Joburg City Auto franchise, represents the third major tranche of development Atterbury has undertaken in Newtown in recent years.

Atterbury is undertaking this project in joint venture with Old Mutual Properties and Stephen Nale Properties.

Nearly 180 jobs are being created during the construction of this project, which will support 160 permanent jobs.

“We have set our sights on transforming Newtown into a hub for innovators, entrepreneurs and residents across the income spectrum,” says Atterbury Property development manager Derrick Pautz.

“We saw the potential in Newtown when we first began developing Newtown Junction. Now, two years since it opened, we can confirm that the strong demand for great commercial infrastructure in this vibrant and thriving area is everything we believed it to be, and more. Based on the success of our investment and development in the node, we are confident to pursue further opportunities.”

Atterbury developed the Newtown Junction mixed-use development, which opened in September 2014, in the heart of Newtown alongside the M1 freeway and next door to the Market Theatre.

The biggest mixed-use development to be built in the Johannesburg central business district (CBD) since the Carlton Centre, which went up in the 1970s, the 85 000 m2 precinct includes a shopping centre featuring a variety of retail and dining sites.

It also includes office space for Nedbank, a Planet Fitness gym and basement parking. The design destination, Work Shop New Town, in the historical Potato sheds, also forms part of the retail offering.

Building on this success, Atterbury developed the 148-room City Lodge Hotel Newtown, which opened its first phase in January this year.

It is the group’s first hotel in downtown Johannesburg. It is also the first hotel to open in the Johannesburg CBD in more than two decades.
Pautz says the Johannesburg Development Agency, which is spearheading the regeneration of downtown Joburg and surrounding areas, “has been a great partner in Atterbury’s development in Newtown.