Construction of the Boland Oval Lifestyle Estate in Paarl has officially got underway, with enabling works commencing on Monday (7 September).
The latest phase of the development will see work begin on the grass embankments and associated civil infrastructure, marking the move from planning and preparation into construction. The estate is being developed by Boland Gateway, with Staytus Collection serving as the development-management company and ASLA appointed as the contractor.
The project includes the establishment of the Boland Oval residential estate as well as the expansion and upgrade of the existing Boland Park cricket grounds. Once completed the upgraded cricket facility will be a significant sports and community asset for Paarl and the wider Boland region.
Civil work begins
The commencement of the civil works is also part of the development’s progression towards the fifty over 2027 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. James Fortuin, Boland Cricket Chief Executive Officer, labels the development as “a very big milestone”.
“The project that we are busy with at the moment is to reconfigure and enlarge our grass embankments. So, that will take our capacity up from 7 500 to just over 12 000, which means there’s more for everybody, more seating in general. That’s going to stand in good stat for the years to come, and not only for the World Cup but also for SA 20, where we are at the moment under capacitated.
“This particular project is one element and then we are also building our new player management and officials area, and we’re upgrading seating around the stadium. All in all we’ll spend just under R45 million in preparations, capital and other preparations for the World Cup.”
With construction now underway the development team said it was looking forward to seeing Boland Oval take shape and to the long-term vision of creating a destination bringing together residential, sporting and community-focused opportunities in Paarl.
Day school for children
“We have received approval from the municipality for 1 000 residential units,” says Handré Basson, Director at Staytus Collection.
“Along with this there is a day school for children, there are swimming pools, delis and more. It is really going to be a miniature estate in itself.
According to Basson their market for the residential units is for the middle-class people.
“It is for our community because we feel there is a big need. It will also be the first stadium in Africa where we have a residential component around a sports body.
“In England they do it everywhere. Our need here is to create something in Paarl that does not exist here yet. Everyone has houses with plots. If a young first time home buyer can buy an apartment here then we feel that we are really serving the full market in Paarl, because I don’t think Paarl serves our average person. That is our need.
“We are going to start on 1 November with the first two blocks which will hopefully be finished before the start of the World Cup. Then probably after about three years the whole residential development should be finished.”
