The remainder of the 60 erven are set to be auctioned off be-tween April and December. The sub-division of the area into smaller residential plots has however raised questions among property owners further east along the Swakop river.
One concerned resident contacted local paper to find out about the latest developments at Nonidas, some 10 kilometres east of Swakopmund, and pointed out that previously “it was not allowed to subdivide the Swakop River smallholdings in the Swakopmund municipal area into units smaller than 10 hectares (100,000 square metres).
This was a stipulation by the municipality to avoid urban sprawl in that area.”
The concerned resident wanted to know why the Heritage Hill developers have been allowed to subdivide the area west of Nonidas into numerous small erven.
“Why was an exception made? Will the same 'rights' now apply to everyone?”.
“We are allowed to subdivide the property and we did not get any preferential treat-ment,’’ says Mr Coenie Botha, the prime mover behind the Heritage Hill project.” This area was zoned for erven for township development and it took a three-year process to get it approved. It had to go through Council and several other bodies, and at every stage the public had a chance to object. The public did not make any objections at any stage.”
He says that the area between the Martin Luther monument up to, and including, the Nonidas Castle was proclaimed suitable for township development by the Swakopmund Town Council: “There is no difference between us and the (Rossmund) golf course housing development, but the area between Nonidas and Rossmund is zoned for tourism development”, which is why there are additional restrictions on subdividing those erven, he explained.
Asked about the potential impact of seasonal flooding along the riverbank, Mr Botha said they have permission to build no closer than 100 yards (91.44 metres) from the edge of the riverbed. Houses built nearest the riverbed will be restricted to single-story units, he noted.
The exclusive Heritage Hill project has a total development cost of N$1.5 billion over seven years and will consist of 152 individual residential erven (of which 52 will be luxury villa-type developments), a retirement village of 160 units, 180 residential flat units, 70 luxury flats, a 350-room luxury hotel and conference facility with parking, a business and retail, as well as entertainment component, a six-star 14 bedroom boutique hotel, and a multi-level office complex with parking areas.
Mr Botha says this would however be done in several phases, starting with the sale of the residential erven.
They sold 30 erven during the first auction at the end of March, he confirmed, noting that the hotel is also in the market and they are considering setting aside two erven of some 8 500 square metres, specifically for town-houses.
The developers plan to start installing basic civilian infrastructure for the single residential units by August and Botha hopes that the first houses will be ready by June 2015.
The area will in future be closed off to the general public and will become the first enclosed residential complex at the coast.
With only one access road leading in and out of the gated community, guests will be allowed to enter only if the guards have been given prior notice, and no vehicle will be allowed to enter the premises unless admitted by the guard on duty at the gate.
Workers may not enter or leave the site on foot, but will have to be transported onto and off the premises.
Although the owners will design their own houses and hire their own builders, all houses in the gated community will have to meet certain criteria. Houses must be at least three times the municipal valuation of the land.
The exterior must be painted white or else be clad in natural stonework, with red cement tiling. Solar heating panels must be screened and may not have external tanks; no solar panels or heating panels may be visible from any position.
Mr Botha confirmed that the put-up price starts at N$350 per square metre and the prices of the erven on auction range between N$250 000 and N$400 000, but he noted that erven with a put-up price of N$250 000 sold for as much as N$550 000 last month.
Bidders were willing to pay just short of a million dollars for some of the prime erven sold last month, Botha said. The conditions of sale include N$30 000 deposit on each erf, as well as the auctioneer's N$15 000 commission plus VAT. The next auction is set to take place on 19 April.
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