An ongoing advertising campaign in addition to ‘signpost men’ with yellow Rawson Developers clothing and giant foam hands operating seven hours a day on the Rondebosch Main Road, have ensured that Rawson Developers’ latest sectional title project “River Song” has had a steady stream of visitors and potential buyers.
To accommodate them and the sales team, Rawson Developers have rented two large chic FSM site cabins, the smartest yet seen on any Rawson site.
“Already,” says Trevor Weston-Green, Rawson Developers’ Property Development Analyst, “26 of the 40 units in “River Song” have been taken up and signed for. It looks very much, therefore, as if we will be sold out by early December, if not before.”
Weston-Green stresses, however, that Rawson Developers’ experience has shown that a very small percentage of buyers, for one reason or another, will probably have to opt out of their deals at some stage and this means that buy opportunities tend to crop up well into the construction period and sometimes right up to the completion date.
“River Song” complements “Rivers Edge”, which is right next door and which Rawson Developers completed in May 2011. This development was completely sold out prior to completion. Both developments look eastwards onto the Liesbeek River (which has an attractive walking and cycling trail linking it with the Rondebosch CBD and Observatory) as well as westward views of Devil’s Peak.
“River Song” with only 40 units in a six storey block is one of Rawson Developers smaller developments. It offers buyers one bedroom apartments priced from R895,990, and two bedroom apartments from R1,395,990. The units vary in size from 43 m2 to 93 m2 and a top floor penthouse unit is marketed for R2,150,000. The higher prices, says Weston-Green, reflect the larger size and more upmarket fittings of these units.
“Five of these,” says Weston-Green, “have a loft configuration with mezzanine bedrooms, which our market research indicates are very popular with younger people today.”
As the site has an under layer of thick alluvial clay brought down over the millennia by the nearby river, extensive piling is necessary and there will be no parking basements. Instead, cars will be parked at ground level on site and arrangements have been made to accommodate them.
Paul Henry, Managing Director of Rawson Developers, has said that the area in which “River Song” and “Rivers Edge” are sited is part of the more historic, central Rondebosch in which many of the homes date back to 1940 or 1950 and, he says, the entire precinct has a certain distinction and an almost tangible calm atmosphere despite being only 250 m from the Riverside Mall and the “always alive” Rondebosch retail node.
Henry adds that, as at “The Rondebosch” and “Rondebosch Oaks”, investors on these new Rondebosch developments can expect a 7% return on their sales price. This, he says, equates in most cases to about 75%-85% of the monthly bond being paid on these developments (on which there are usually 80% or 90% bonds) and as the rentals are likely to rise by some 8% per annum, any purchase in “River Song” right now “makes good investment sense to anybody who understands this asset class and the property market”.
