Afrirent doubles Cape Town ICC tower investment to R2.5bn for 35-storey ThirtyFour18 scheme
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Afrirent Holdings and co-developer Lance Chalwin-Milton now plan to invest about R2.5 billion in a 35-storey mixed-use tower beside the Cape Town International Convention Centre, almost double the R1 billion to R1.3 billion flagged when the site lease was secured in 2024.
Afrirent Holdings and its co-developer have doubled the planned investment in a 35-storey mixed-use tower on a small site next to the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in the Foreshore, lifting the budget to about R2.5 billion.
The scheme, being developed under the name ThirtyFour18 after its geographical coordinates, will comprise 94 private apartments, seven penthouses, a 155-room hotel, a rooftop sky bar and swimming pool, four floors of office space and some retail outlets. A second restaurant for hotel guests and the public is planned for the sixth floor, while the first floor will carry a co-working space with direct access to the CTICC and an innovation hub will span the second and third floors.
Businessman Senzo Tsabedze’s Afrirent secured a long-term lease on the site from the City of Cape Town in 2024, when the group said it intended to invest between R1 billion and R1.3 billion. According to the developers’ latest media release, Afrirent and Lance Chalwin-Milton — co-founder and former managing director of High Street Auctions — now expect to spend almost double that figure.
Tsabedze said Cape Town was a clear investment choice because of what is happening in the city and the security of its investment environment. He said the project would create about 2 500 jobs during construction and 400 permanent jobs once complete.
Chalwin-Milton said the developers hope to attract a Michelin-starred restaurant to the rooftop and are working with a group seeking to bring Michelin-starred chefs to Cape Town. The developers said the scale and timeline of the project reflected continued confidence in the city as an investment destination, noting that Cape Town faces a shortage of high-, middle- and low-income residential property and that its position between the sea and the mountains limits available development land.
Cape Town mayoral committee member for economic growth James Vos, speaking during a site tour with the developers, said the city wanted investors to know it is open for business and that government needed to make private investment land as easily as possible. Construction is expected to begin in April 2027, following a planned sales launch in January.